ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture and Fisheries Council

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the outcome was of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 21 April; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State and I represented the United Kingdom at a meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on 21–22 April 2004.
	The Council concluded its consideration of proposals to reform four CAP regimes: those for cotton, olive oil, tobacco and hops. Agreement on all four was eventually reached by qualified majority. This was a difficult negotiation but the outcome is highly satisfactory from a UK point of view. Overall, the agreement followed the main principles of last June's reforms with decoupling in hops from 2005 (with the option to delay this until 2006) and partial decoupling in the other three sectors from 2006. The rates vary but that for cotton is 65 per cent., a small increase over the 60 per cent. originally proposed; and in the case of tobacco, the rate will be 100 per cent. in 2010 and thereafter. Although the UK would have supported higher rates in all sectors and an earlier move to full decoupling, this agreement sends positive signals to our trading partners by marking a further step towards a more liberalised and market focused agriculture in the EU.

Animal Transport

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what position the Government is taking on the proposal by the Irish Government on new animal transport regulation.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 30 April 2004
	At the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 26 April the UK sought shorter journey times, more space for animals during transport and better ventilation. Unfortunately, in this area which we see as vital to ensuring improved welfare, the gap between countries was too great to be bridged.
	As a result the proposal, which would have improved animal welfare in many areas, has been effectively withdrawn from discussion for the foreseeable future.

Animal Transport

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to improve the welfare of animals exported from the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Government are committed to improving welfare across the EU and was disappointed and frustrated by EU Ministers' failure on 26 April to agree a new regulation on the welfare of animals during transport. The UK, consulting farming, horse and welfare interests, had worked hard to improve the draft proposals but unfortunately it is clear that there are no plans to return to them in the foreseeable future. We will continue to ensure that animals that leave the UK are transported in full accordance with the law. We shall also take every opportunity to press the European Commission and other member states to ensure that the current rules are strictly enforced throughout the expanded EU.

Bovine TB

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on progress made towards the introduction of a vaccine for bovine TB.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 30 April 2004
	The timetable for producing an effective vaccine against bovine tuberculosis remains broadly in line with that set out in the Krebs Report 1997.
	In January 2002, the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB set up a Vaccine Scoping Study Sub-Committee (VSSSC) to advise Defra Ministers on whether a TB vaccination strategy for either cattle or wildlife would be feasible. The VSSSC reported to Ministers in July 2003 (published December 2003). This advised on research requirements, but cautioned that a vaccine (for cattle or badgers) remains a long-term policy option. Many obstacles still have to be overcome.
	An Inter-Departmental Vaccine Steering Group is working to identify administrative and legal procedures to allow a potential vaccine to be authorised for use. The work of VSSSC will be carried forward by a new Vaccine Programme Advisory Group which is chaired by the Defra TB Vaccine Programme Adviser, Professor Douglas Young.
	Defra spent over £1 million on bovine TB vaccine research in the financial years 2002–03 and 2003–04, and expect to spend over £1 million this year.

Countryside Agency

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the change in her Department's grant-in-aid budget to the Countryside Agency.

Alun Michael: In 2004–05 the Countryside Agency has a grant-in-aid budget of £95 million. In addition to the baseline of £90.5 million, £2.5 million is available for work specifically on modernising rural delivery, following the recommendations of the Rural Delivery Review led by Lord Haskins. A further £2.0 million is available for work under a new access management scheme, which will help local authorities to implement measures to make the most of new rights of access to the countryside.
	The total for 2004–05 compares with a growth from £49.0 million in 1999–2000, £52.6 million in 2000–01, £90.8 million in 2001–02, £98.7 million in 2002–03 and a planned £100.0 million in 2003–04.
	In addition the Countryside Agency receives resources from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund and funding from the National Lottery and others which amounts to some further £15 million.

Countryside Agency

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the likely effect of the change in her Department's grant-in-aid budget to the Countryside Agency on the (a) Agency and (b) Vital Villages Campaign.

Alun Michael: The main part of the Countryside Agency's budget for 2004–05 will be directed towards its strategic priorities, which include demonstrating ways of boosting essential rural services, building thriving communities, managing the countryside in a sustainable way and improving recreation and access in the countryside. The grant-in-aid budget for 2004–05 compares with a growth from £49.0 million in 1999–2000, £52.6 million in 2000–01, £90.8 million in 2001–02, £98.7 million in 2002–03 and a planned £100.0 million in 2003–04. The Agency will be able to continue to make a substantial contribution towards Defra's work for sustainable development in rural areas and deliver on key objectives including:
	supporting Rural Transport Partnership officers
	funding the second and third years of existing Rural Transport projects
	supporting Rural Housing Enablers to secure affordable homes
	continuing the core funding for rural community councils and supporting the community development workers
	helping all rural communities benefit from funds committed to communities through the Vital Villages grant schemes
	maintaining total Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty funding at 2003–04 levels.
	Some £14.2 million will be spent in 2004–05 in supporting the Vital Villages programme, although the Countryside Agency has announced the closure of the grant schemes to new applicants. The Agency is targeting its resources on meeting all existing grant commitments under the programme and helping communities benefit from the funds already committed to them. It will also work to share the lessons learnt with regional and local delivery bodies.

Countryside Agency

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who will now fund projects previously funded by the Vital Villages Campaign.

Alun Michael: Although the Countryside Agency has announced the closure of the grant schemes to new applicants, the Agency will meet all existing grant commitments under the Vital Villages programme which was established as a three-year pilot programme to test out new approaches to rural areas. Work is under way on how we can share the lessons learnt from the programme with regional and local delivery bodies to target support for rural communities that need help through mainstream programmes.

Environmental Protection

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when and where she announced the decision to abolish funding for the are you doing your bit campaign.

Elliot Morley: In 2001–02 following the creation of Defra, most of the campaign's planned funding had to be re-allocated to rural support during the foot and mouth disease outbreak, although some activities continued.
	Defra's wider focus on sustainable development issues, and continued pressure on resources, led to the closure of the campaign in 2003, although no formal announcement was made at this time.
	Detailed consideration is being given to the options for future communications activity in this area. Thinking will be informed by the current sustainable development consultation, 'Taking it on', launched 21 April 2004.

EU Accession

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made to (a) the European Commission and (b) her counterparts in the EU accession countries on the ability of those countries to meet EU (i) animal slaughter and (ii) food hygiene regulations by 1 May.

Alun Michael: The Secretary of State and her ministerial team have used every opportunity to stress to the European Commission and to the Secretary of State's counterparts in the EU Accession Countries the importance of complying with the EU acquis communautaire (the rules and regulations laid down by the European Union), and in particular the veterinary and phytosanitary acquis which covers areas such as food hygiene and animal slaughter. Over the last year, ministerial teams have met with colleagues from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia. The UK has also been offering practical help, for example via the Commission's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO).
	All New member states have undertaken to meet the EU acquis communautaire in these areas. Some Transition Periods have been granted—as has been the case for all previous Accessions—and will begin on the 1 May, on the basis that they are time-limited.

EU Accession

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what timetable has been set to ensure that EU accession countries fully comply with EU (a) slaughter, (b) food production, (c) processing, (d) labelling, (e) traceability, (f) hygiene and (g) food safety regulations and standards.

Alun Michael: All the new member states have agreed to comply with the acquis communautaire (the rules and regulations laid down by the European Union) by the 1 May 2004 and bring their national rules fully into line with the EU's food and veterinary laws (chapters 1 and 7 of the Accession negotiations), except where they have been granted Transition Periods. The new member states' Accession Treaty, signed in April 2003, granted Transition Periods of up to three years for animal by-product establishments and agri-food establishments. These have recently been refined with both some deletions and short-term additions (3–12 months).
	Some Transition Periods are inevitable, and have been a feature of every Accession, including our own. They permit Accession to take place on a specific date and are exceptional, time-limited, and tightly controlled and monitored by both national authorities in the countries concerned and by the European Commission. Transition premises have to be named and listed; all must be 100 per cent. EU compliant by the end of 2007 at the latest. There are currently a total of 1006 Transition Periods for the 10 Accession countries. Crucially, products from transition establishments cannot enter the Single Market.

Farming

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on farm income levels for farmers in Heywood and Middleton in the past five years.

Alun Michael: Due to the small number of farms in Heywood and Middleton, there is no robust data available on farm incomes for farmers in that area over the last five years. Net farm income for farms in the EU North Region and for England over the last five years are show in the table.
	
		Net farm income
		
			  EU North Region England 
		
		
			 1998–99 8,272 10,359 
			 1999–2000 8,659 7,981 
			 2000–01 12,456 9,886 
			 2000–02 16,457 13,558 
			 2002–03 18,512 16,435 
		
	
	Source:
	Farm Business Survey
	Net farm income is the return to the principal farmer and spouse for their manual and managerial labour and to the tenant-type capital of the business.

Farming

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average level of farm income for farmers in Burnley was in the past five years.

Alun Michael: Due to the small number of farms in Burnley, there is no robust data available on farm incomes for farmers in that area over the last five years. Net farm income for farms in the EU North Region and for England over the last five years are show in the following table.
	
		Net farm income
		
			  EU North Region England 
		
		
			 1998–99 8,272 10,359 
			 1999–2000 8,659 7,981 
			 2000–01 12,456 9,886 
			 2001–02 16,457 13,558 
			 2002–03 18,512 16,435 
		
	
	Source:
	Farm Business Survey
	Net farm income is the return to the principal farmer and spouse for their manual and managerial labour and to the tenant-type capital of the business.

Harmful Chemicals

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effect on (i) wildlife and (ii) the environment of exposure to harmful chemicals.

Alun Michael: The Department has commissioned and evaluated significant research programmes on the effect of harmful chemicals on wildlife and the environment. Some of them have focused on specific chemicals such as pesticides; groups of chemicals with similar effects such as endocrine disrupters; or targeted environmental media such as air, water, soil etc. The Department also funds research into the possible impacts on the environment of using veterinary medicines on animals and fish. The results of Defra funded research are published in the peer-reviewed scientific press and most can be found on our website www.defra.gov.uk.

Illegal Food Imports

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list, with the penalties imposed, the cases since 1994 of illegal food imports where prosecution succeeded.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 30 April 2004
	Figures for prosecutions for illegal imports are not held centrally.
	HM Customs and Excise have had responsibility for anti-smuggling controls on products of animal origin from 11 April 2003. Since then they have brought two prosecutions in 2004 under the Customs and Excise Management Act for illegal imports, both of which were successful. In each case the defendant was fined and costs were awarded against them.
	There have been a number of other prosecutions related to illegal imports since 2000 but not all were tried as offences under illegal imports legislation.

Oysters

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make representations to the European Union to issue a protected geographical indication for the Colchester Native Oyster.

Alun Michael: Registering a food name under the EU Protected Food Name scheme is one way in which producers can add value to their produce. We are sympathetic to this proposal and the Government are keen to encourage more applications under the scheme.
	An application to register the name, Colchester Native Oyster as a protected geographical indication was received on 7 April. Officials are currently assessing the application against the scheme criteria. If it meets those criteria, officials will work with the applicant group to prepare the application for submission to the European Commission.

Rights of Way

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the policy of the rights of way section of her Department is regarding answering the telephone to members of the public on (a) 01173–728–379, (b) 01173–728–957 and (c) other numbers.

Alun Michael: I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to the difficulties he experienced in getting through to officials in the rights of way branch at Temple Quay House in Bristol on 26 April. The building was experiencing intermittent problems with incoming calls on that day, which is why several attempts had to be made before he was successful.
	In normal circumstances telephones are answered promptly. The rights of way branch has a "group pick-up" facility, which links all the telephones in the team, and enables them to take each other's calls when colleagues are absent or away from their desk. This is what happened when the successful call was responded to by a member of the team.
	In addition these telephones have a voicemail facility so that callers can leave a message if they wish to, should there be no response.

Rights of Way

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out the history of the request to close the footpath at Cuillan Close, Rise Park; when her Department expects to compete the paperwork necessary to allow Nottingham City Council to close the footpath; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: Nottingham City Council applied on 20 October 2003 to have the area around the footpath designated under Schedule 6 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. Following an examination of the evidence provided in the second round of applications for designation, I announced my intention to designate 20 areas, including this one, on 9 February. Since the announcement, Officials at Defra have prepared the detailed digital maps necessary for the legal process and consulted the relevant local authorities about them.
	I have laid the order that designates this area of Nottingham, along with areas in Brighton and Hove, Leeds, York, Middlesbrough, Oldham, Swale, Wirral and the London Borough of Hillingdon. It will come into effect on 25 May.
	The local authorities concerned can now proceed to consider whether to make orders to divert or extinguish rights of way for the purpose of crime prevention.
	The time taken to complete the process is as frustrating for ministers as it is for MPs and councillors, so I am looking at whether we can strengthen the process for the future, but this is a formal legal process which has to be done centrally.

Severely Disadvantaged Areas

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria were used in designating severely disadvantaged areas.

Alun Michael: The severely disadvantaged areas in the uplands (then termed less favoured areas) were first designated following the physical, economic and demographic assessment laid down in Article 3(4) of Council Directive 75/268. In 1999, this Article was replaced by Article 19 of Council Regulation 1257/1999 (the so-called rural development Regulation). They are characterised by land of poor productivity which is difficult to cultivate and mainly suitable for extensive livestock farming; and by a risk of land abandonment, which could impair the conservation of the countryside and the viability of communities in the area.

Severely Disadvantaged Areas

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on what support schemes farmers in severely disadvantaged areas will be able to apply for.

Alun Michael: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 March 2004, Official Report, column 271W.

TRANSPORT

A19

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many deaths and serious injuries have   been sustained on the section of the A19 which runs through the Easington constituency in the last 10 years.

David Jamieson: The available information relates to local authority areas. The number of deaths and serious injuries sustained in reported injury road accidents on the section of the A19 in the Easington local authority area for the years 1993 to 2002 are shown in the table below. Estimates on the basis of parliamentary constituencies will become available in the summer and I shall write to my hon. Friend with figures Easington and place a copy of my letter in the Libraries of the House.
	
		Fatal and Serious Casualties on the A19 within Easington(LA area): 1993–2002
		
			 Year Killed Serious 
		
		
			 1993 3 4 
			 1994 3 8 
			 1995 2 7 
			 1996 1 10 
			 1997 2 2 
			 1998 1 1 
			 1999 1 2 
			 2000 2 5 
			 2001 1 8 
			 2002 2 4

Cycle Lanes (Battersea)

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of new cycle lanes have been provided using public funds in Battersea since 1997.

Tony McNulty: The promotion of cycling in London is a matter for the Mayor of London and Transport for London. This strategy is delivered, in part, by the individual Boroughs such as Wandsworth. The Mayor's policies on cycling can be found in his Transport Strategy at the following link:
	http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/transport/index.jsp

Lane Rental

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he received the final report by Halcrow on the lane rental pilot in Camden and Middlesbrough; and on what date it will be made public.

David Jamieson: I expect to receive the final report on the lane rental pilots around the end of June. Copies of the report would be placed in the Libraries of the House shortly afterwards.

Off-shore Wind Farms

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the risk of obstruction to the Port of London from the London array wind farm; and what representations he has received on the issue from the maritime industry.

Alistair Darling: The developer of the London Array wind farm in seeking consent for the project must make a thorough assessment of the potential impact of the proposed installation on navigation and ports. The developer must demonstrate to my satisfaction in the case of a Coast Protection Act 1949 consent or that of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the case of an Order under the Transport and Works Act 1992 that their development, in combination with others that may be in the vicinity, does not present a danger or significant obstruction to navigation. In reaching that decision either Secretary of State will take advice from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and, in the case of the London Array, the Port of London Authority. Any person or organisation who has an interest in the matter may make representations to the relevant Minister and these will be taken into account in the decision making process.

Off-shore Wind Farms

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultation he has (a) undertaken and (b) planned with maritime groups about the impact of offshore wind farms on marine navigation.

Alistair Darling: My Department is consulting the shipping and ports industries on the potential cumulative impact on navigational safety of wind farms being developed on the sites for which The Crown Estate has offered leases. In the light of the outcome of this exercise, developers are able to apply to The Crown Estate, between 1 September to 31 December 2004, to adjust the location of their proposed wind farm. In addition, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is consulting on a revised publication giving guidance on the navigational safety issues which developers shall need to take into account in seeking consent for their projects. This consultation is closing on 7 June 2004 with a view to publishing the revised guidance later this summer.
	Officials from my Department together with officials from the Department of Trade and Industry met representatives of the shipping and ports industries on 28 January 2004. Also one of my officials was present when they met the Energy Minister on 16 March 2004 where they were given an assurance that offshore wind farms would not be sited where they present a danger to navigation.

Off-shore Wind Farms

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has made to the Department of Trade and Industry regarding obstruction to shipping lanes from wind farms.

Alistair Darling: There have been numerous discussions between Departments at ministerial and official level in regard to the obstruction of shipping. The safety of shipping is of paramount importance. Wind farms which would present a significant obstruction or danger to navigation will not receive the development consents from Government which are necessary before projects can be constructed. This Department and the Department of Trade and Industry consult the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and others on navigational safety matters in deciding whether to grant consent for offshore wind farm projects.
	The proposed location of an offshore wind farm may require shipping which passes through those waters to re-route around the installation. Where such new patterns of ship traffic could be established without a detrimental effect on the safety of navigation, such a possibility would be considered on a case-by-case basis as part of the assessment of whether consent should be given to the project.

Rail Services (Portsmouth Harbour)

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 25 March 2004 to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight, Official Report, column 982W, on rail services (a) what information he collects and (b) if he will make a statement on the punctuality and reliability of trains destined for Portsmouth harbour.

Tony McNulty: Performance statistics by Train Operating Company (TOC) are published in the Strategic Rail Authority's quarterly "National Rail Trend", copies of which are in the Library of the House. The SRA does not hold performance data below TOC level.

Road Accidents

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the percentage change in (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries on the roads of Heywood and Middleton is since 1997.

David Jamieson: The available information relates to local authority areas. In the Rochdale local authority area (which includes the constituency of Heywood and Middleton) there were 16 fatal casualties in 1997 and 11 fatal casualties in 2002. The number of people seriously injured in road accidents increased from 83 in 1997 to 84 in 2002, a rise of 1 per cent. Estimates on the basis of parliamentary constituencies will become available in the summer and I shall write to my hon. Friend with figures for Heywood and Middleton and place a copy of my letter in the Libraries of the House.

Road Accidents

James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the percentage change in (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries on the roads of Stalybridge and Hyde has been since 1997.

David Jamieson: The available information relates to local authority areas. In the Tameside local authority area (which includes the Stalybridge and Hyde constituency) there were four fatal casualties in 1997 and four fatal casualties in 2002. The numbers of people seriously injured in road accidents reduced from 117 in 1997 to 85 in 2002, a fall of 27 per cent. Estimates on the basis of parliamentary constituencies will become available in the summer and I shall write to my hon. Friend with figures for Stalybridge and Hyde and place a copy of my letter in the Libraries of the House.

Road Accidents

Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people died in road traffic accidents in Wigan in (a) 1997 and (b) 2003.

David Jamieson: In the Wigan local authority area there were 10 fatal casualties in 1997 and nine fatal casualties in 2002, the latest year for which information is available.

Road Accidents

Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were seriously injured in road traffic accidents in (a) 1997 and (b) 2003.

David Jamieson: The number of people seriously injured in reported injury road accidents in Great Britain was 42,984 in 1997 and 35,976 in 2002, the last year for which information is available.

Road Upgrades

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make an announcement concerning the Government's decision on the upgrading of the A358 and the A303 following the decision to be made by the Regional Assembly on 30 April.

David Jamieson: I will be considering the Regional Assembly's comments together with the views of the Statutory Environmental Bodies and others before I decide on the route option. I will announce a decision once I have fully considered all of the issues.

Road Works

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average duration of utility works involving occupation of the highway was in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003.

David Jamieson: Based on monitoring work carried out for my Department, the average duration of utility works for the period referred to was as follows:
	
		
			  Days 
		
		
			 2001 (April to December) 5.94 
			 2002 5.70 
		
	
	Accurate figures are not available for the period before April 2001 and final figures for 2003 are not yet available.

Road Works

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of congestion on local authority roads in each year since 2000 was caused by (a) street works carried out by utilities and (b) street works carried out by or on behalf of highway authorities.

David Jamieson: The Department does not hold figures centrally for the proportion of congestion caused by utility and highway authority works respectively on local authority roads.

Speed Cameras

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many speed cameras are installed in Staffordshire, including Stoke-on-Trent.

David Jamieson: The Staffordshire Safety Camera Partnership has 217 fixed site speed camera installations and no red light cameras. They currently operate no mobile camera units.

Train Services (Kent)

John Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many peak-time train services serving Petts Wood, Orpington and St. Mary Cray there are (a) at present and (b) proposed by the Strategic Rail Authority in the Integrated Kent Franchise consultation document.

Tony McNulty: Services in the morning peak to London (trains arriving at a London terminus between 07:00 and 09:59):
	Petts Wood
	Current: 27 (8 Victoria, 4 Blackfriars, 15 Charing Cross or Cannon Street)
	Proposed: 18 (6 Victoria, 12 Charing Cross).
	Orpington
	Current: 30 (8 Victoria, 4 Blackfriars, 18 Charing Cross or Cannon Street)
	Proposed: 30 (6 Victoria, 12–13 Charing Cross or Cannon Street (fast) 12 Charing Cross (stopping)).
	St. Mary Cray
	Current: 16 (8 Victoria, 8 Blackfriars)
	Proposed: 15 (7 Victoria, 8 Blackfriars).

Train Services (Kent)

John Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assumptions were made by the Strategic Rail Authority in the Integrated Kent Franchise document about (a) current and (b) future capacity in the peak-hour services between Petts Wood, Orpington, St. Mary Cray and London.

Tony McNulty: Estimates of seats provided in the three-hour peak based on analysis of current scheduled South Eastern Trains service and estimates for the proposed service, based on the best current information about future train formations and vehicle types, are as follows:
	
		
			  (a) Current (b) Future 
		
		
			 Petts Wood 16,400 9,200 
			 Orpington 17,800 17,600 
			 St. Mary Cray 8,600 9,300 
		
	
	Note:
	Numbers are approximate and subject to possible change.
	As now, the key factor is not overall train capacity, but how much spare capacity is available by the time services arrive at these stations.

Train Services (Kent)

John Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the passenger usage data for (a) Petts Wood, (b) Orpington and (c) St. Mary Cray that the Strategic Rail Authority used in their consultation document on the Integrated Kent Franchise, broken down by (i) passengers buying season tickets and those not and (ii) passengers taking fast peak-hour trains to London and those taking slow, stopping trains in the peak period.

Tony McNulty: This information is not available in the format requested. Ticket information suggests that the average number of passenger journeys to and from these stations per day is:
	
		
			  Season Ordinary Total 
		
		
			 Petts Wood 3,972 1,814 5,786 
			 Orpington 6,914 4,697 11,611 
			 St. Mary Cray 1,975 1,278 3,253

Transport Energy Best Practice Programme

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 62–63W, on the Transport Energy Best Practice Programme, what proportion of (a) freight vehicle kilometres and (b) freight tonne kilometres these companies account for, (i) in total and (ii) broken down by vehicle type.

David Jamieson: The Department does not currently hold the detailed data necessary to answer this question. However the 5 per cent. of freight transport companies mentioned in the answer of 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 62–63W, on the Transport Energy Best Practice Programme, referred to a representative cross-section of the industry.

Transport Energy Best Practice Programme

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding has been given to the Transport Energy Best Practice programme, broken down by year.

David Jamieson: The following funding has been provided to the Transport Energy Best Practice programme:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2002–03 1.57 
			 2003–04 2.67 
			 2004–05 (forecast) 2.48

Transport Services (Preston)

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rural bus services in Preston are supported by rural bus grants.

Tony McNulty: Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG) is paid to local transport authorities. In the case of Preston, this is Lancashire County Council. It is for the authority to decide which services should be supported with the grant. We understand from the county council that, while Preston is mainly urban, there are 11 rural bus services commencing or terminating in Preston that are currently supported by RBSG.

Transport Services (Preston)

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of priority bus lanes have been created in Preston since 1997.

Tony McNulty: Since 1997, three lengths of bus lane have been created in Preston, at Fishergate, Church Street and Ringway, with a total length of 900 metres.

Transport Services (Preston)

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the effect of investment in railway improvements over the next 10 years upon residents of Preston.

Tony McNulty: Residents of Preston will benefit from the new TransPennine Express franchise, which commenced in February. The franchise secures investment of around £260m, which will include the introduction of a new fleet of 100 mph diesel trains leading to increased capacity, improved service quality and performance across the region. A new northern franchise, which will include local and regional services through Preston, is out for tender. Work continues on the West Coast Main Line upgrade, which will see reduction in journey times along the route and increases in service frequency.

Transport Services (Preston)

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of new cycle lanes have been provided using public funds in Preston since 1997.

Tony McNulty: A total of 3.8 km of on-road cycle lanes and 5.6 km of off-road cycle tracks has been provided in Preston since 1997. A further 6.6 km of off-road cycle path, including 3.8 km of improved canal towpath are due to open this summer.

Transport Services (Preston)

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the percentage change in (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries on the roads of Preston has been since 1997.

David Jamieson: In the Preston local authority area there were nine deaths in road accidents in 1997 and two deaths in 2002, the latest year for which information is available. The number of serious injuries in road accidents fell by 2 per cent. from 156 in 1997 to 153 in 2002.

Tyres

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of tyres on vehicles he estimates are of energy efficient types, broken down by vehicle type.

David Jamieson: There is no established definition or standard for energy efficient tyres. It is not possible, therefore, to estimate the proportion of energy efficient tyres currently being used on vehicles. We understand that tyres generally are becoming more energy efficient as manufacturers are incorporating energy efficient design features along with new technology. The major tyre manufacturers all sell a range of tyres, some of which are more energy efficient than others.

Tyres

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many tyres have been purchased in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) size and (b) type.

David Jamieson: The most recent information the Department for Transport has on the numbers of new tyres purchased as replacements in the United Kingdom for the years indicated is shown in the table. The data is grouped by vehicle type or use rather than by tyre size and tyre type due to the large number of sizes available in the marketplace currently. Data for 2003 is not yet available. Further information may be available from the trade associations: The British Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association and the Imported Tyre Manufacturers Association.
	
		Number of replacement tyres purchased in the United Kingdom
		
			  Car tyres Utility vehicles and off road 4x4 Heavy vehicle tyres Tyres for other vehicles 
		
		
			 1998 20,202,648 899,279 3,013,782 772,071 
			 1999 19,593,786 1,026,430 2,712,016 820,698 
			 2000 18,804,523 917,094 2,659,233 845,153 
			 2001 20,663,690 946,271 3,260,337 187,174 
			 2002 20,874,277 1,014,894 3,595,930 192,937

Tyres

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much (a) energy efficient tyres and (b) normal tyres cost on average to purchase, broken down by size.

David Jamieson: As stated in my earlier answer (ref 169906), there is no formal definition of an energy efficient tyre. However our information suggests that, for trucks, the more energy efficient tyres cost around 5 per cent. more than normal or low energy efficiency tyres. For passenger car tyres, we understand there is no significant difference in the costs between products from the same manufacturer.

Tyres

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 63W, on fuel efficient tyres, if he will estimate the reduction in emissions that would result from all freight vehicles switching to these tyres.

David Jamieson: If all freight vehicles in the UK achieved a saving of 7 per cent. in fuel consumption, this would reduce emissions by around half a million tonnes of carbon. However, as I explained in my earlier answer (ref 169906), we do not know how many trucks are already fitted with the most energy efficient tyres so we cannot estimate the effect on emissions of all freight vehicles changing to use these types of tyres.

Tyres

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 63W, on fuel efficient tyres, what the average distance it is estimated these tyres will last; and what the figure for ordinary tyres is.

David Jamieson: The Department is not aware of any independently verified figures quantifying the difference in tyre life between more and less energy efficient tyres. As I stated in my answer of 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 63W, there is some evidence that the tread wear rate for current energy efficient tyres can be inferior to those of standard tyres. However, this is not quantified.

Tyres

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps have been taken to publicise the use of energy efficient tyres.

David Jamieson: As I stated in my answer of 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 62–63W, through the TransportEnergy Best Practice programme, my Department has recently published a free leaflet describing trials of energy efficient tyres fitted to trucks. These trials have also been reported in the last two editions of the programme's free newsletter, "Freight Future", which is distributed to hauliers via trade journals.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Police Traffic Divisions (M25)

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was given to (a) Essex and (b) Kent police traffic divisions in respect of their work on the M25 in each of the last three years; how many (i) officers and (ii) units were deployed following the road traffic accident in the vicinity of junctions 29 and 31 on 17 March; for how long they were deployed; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 23 March 2004
	Forces do not receive funding specifically for road policing. The police funding formula, on which general grants for police authorities are based, does take into account traffic management needs. It is a matter for the Chief Constable and Police Authority to decide how to allocate the available resources within any given force area.
	Road and traffic expenditure by Essex and Kent Constabularies is not directly comparable. The Chief Constable for Essex police informs me that their Road Policing Units respond to all Essex's roads, not just the motorway, and that total expenditure on road policing is estimated to be £14 million per annum in each of the last three years.
	The Chief Constable of Kent police informs me that the expenditure on their traffic unit, as well as officers on areas classified as traffic, is estimated at approximately £5.5 million per annum in each of the last three years.
	35 Essex police officers were deployed to the traffic accident on 17 March. A whole divisional traffic unit was dedicated to this incident, consisting of nine double-crewed vehicles. In addition, a further 10 single-crewed vehicles, two scenes of crime vehicles (one officer each) and a Traffic Investigation Unit (five officers) were involved. None of the officers were involved for the entire duration. In addition, three Metropolitan police vehicles were deployed at Junction 29 for 14 hours. Kent police had no involvement.

Dangerous Driving

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of people driving without requisite insurance cover.

Caroline Flint: On the basis of information from the insurance industry and other sources, we estimate that there are 1.25 million persons driving without compulsory insurance against third party risks.

Drugs

Michael Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated total annual cost to the UK economy was of dealing with the drug problem in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what factors the calculation includes.

Caroline Flint: Total direct annual Government expenditure on preventing and tackling drug misuse is as follows:
	
		
			  Total direct annual Government expenditure 
		
		
			 2000–01 695 
			 2001–02 870 
			 2002–03 1,026 
			 2003–04 1,244 
			 2004–05 1,344 
		
	
	These total figures reflect the cross Government spend on the four core strands of the Drug Strategy: protecting young people, reducing supply, safe guarding communities and treatment.

Identity Card Bill

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish his draft identity card bill.

Des Browne: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary published the draft Identity Cards Bill on 26 April 2004, Official Report, column 34WS, as part of a document explaining the need for legislation entitled 'Legislation on Identity Cards: A Consultation' (CM 6178).

Road Traffic Offences

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the number of people who have five points or more on their driving licence.

Caroline Flint: This information is not collected centrally.

UK Border Controls

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the cost, per unit, of establishing manned UK customs points in countries other than the UK.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 23W.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Investment (Infrastructure)

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's reasons are for the proportional increase in social infrastructure and services investment and the corresponding proportional decrease in economic infrastructure and services investment since 1997.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The goal of the Department for International Development (DFID) is to eliminate poverty. DFID seeks to do this by focusing on achieving the targets agreed at the Millennium Summit, the so-called Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). DFID works with developing country Governments and other donors to achieve these goals.
	Around a third of DFID's total expenditure is allocated to specific sectors. In recent years, expenditure on social infrastructure and services (by which we usually mean education, health, population and reproductive health, water supply and sanitation, government and civil society, employment and housing) has been significantly higher than that on economic infrastructure and services (for example, transport and storage, communications, energy, banking and financial services, and business). In large part, this is because DFID believes that investment in these sectors will have a greater impact on achieving the MDGs. In 2002, the latest year for which these data are available, there was a large jump in expenditure for the first group, which was not matched for scale in the second one. This was mainly due to a number of large contributions to global health funds.

North Korea

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid has be offered to North Korea as a result of the Ryongchon incident; and whether this offer has been accepted.

Hilary Benn: Relief supplies that arrived shortly after the train crash were sent from a Red Cross disaster preparedness warehouse, funded by the Department for International Development. Last year DFID provided £200,000 of support to the North Korean Red Cross's disaster preparedness activities, which included the provision of pre-positioned disaster relief supplies. A further £200,000 is committed for 2004–05.
	DFID has also set aside £56,000 for support to affected households through the International Federation of the Red Cross, having judged this assistance to be the most effective way to meet the unmet needs. Initial appeals for support are well covered, and while the UK was ready to fund the replenishing of disaster relief supplies, the European Commission has pledged 200,000 Euros for this purpose. The UK's share of this pledge is approximately 38,000 Euros (£25,500).
	DFID will consider further appeals as part of its continuing programme of humanitarian assistance to North Korea.

St. Helena

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial commitments are planned for St. Helena.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID will continue to maintain substantial support for St. Helena. This will include budgetary assistance, to include a subsidy for the island's shipping service, plus funding for various development projects and the filling of key posts. A joint DFID/FCO team is currently visiting the island to negotiate proposals for our assistance over the three-year UK period 2004–05 to 2006–07. In addition, as I reported in a written statement to this House on 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 1WS, DFID is exploring options for maintaining future access arrangements.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution the United Kingdom will make to the new United Nations appeal for the Darfur Region of Western Sudan.

Hilary Benn: The United Nations has appealed for around $115 million for the humanitarian response in Darfur, Sudan. I am considering our response and we are likely to contribute. I have set aside £10 million from our contingency reserve for our ongoing humanitarian response in Darfur, in recognition of the severity of the situation and the need to work avert a humanitarian catastrophe. This is in addition to the £9.5 million that DFID committed last financial year through the UN, Red Cross and international non-governmental organisations in response to this crisis.

World Education Forum

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps have been taken to meet the UK's obligations arising from the agreement at the World Education Forum in Dakar in April 2000 to achieve primary education for all children by 2015.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Universal Primary Education by 2015 is the top priority of DFID's education programme and we are working closely with our international partners to achieve this. DFID is targeting countries with a high proportion of children out-of-school, such as Ethiopia, India and Bangladesh, and regions with a high number of countries with chronic levels of out-of-school children, such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Progress has been made in many countries with global enrolment in primary education increasing from 596 million in 1990 to 648 million children in 2000. However, with over 100 million children still not currently enrolled in primary education, much still remains to be done.
	In recognition of this, DFID has invested over £820 million in education in developing countries since 1997. DFID is increasing this investment and are planning to spend £1 billion from 2004–2008. In addition, DFID is providing £12 million to the World Bank Fast-Track Initiative Catalytic Fund for education. This will go to help a specific group of developing countries that need a quick injection of money to get their education systems up and running.
	DFID is collaborating with a variety of partners to accelerate progress on girls' education, as girls are much more likely to be out-of-school than boys (over 50 per cent). DFID is working with the UN Girls' Education Initiative to ensure stronger collaboration and coordination among donors at the global and the national level. At the country level, DFID continues to prioritise support to those governments that give priority to primary education. For example, we are supporting the Kenyan Government, who have recently abolished school fees at primary level, to provide enough school places to keep up with demand and ensure that quality is sustained.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Academic Fellowship Scheme

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reason the new academic fellowship scheme says in section 3.9 of the scheme document that a guarantee of a permanent position is an absolute condition of the award, and also insists in section 3.5 that those who have been promised a permanent position are considered to have achieved the aims of the scheme already and are not eligible.

Patricia Hewitt: The Academic Fellowships are a direct response to the Roberts Review on "The supply of people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills". This report pointed to a lack of a clear career path for researchers and one of the primary aims of the scheme is to provide a transition between postdoctoral positions and academic posts. Government believes that a goal of a permanent academic post is necessary to improve recruitment and retention by providing the individual with a clear career trajectory and allowing for development needs to be addressed.
	The statements to which my hon. Friend refers are not intended to be contradictory. The guarantee of a permanent position to be provided at the end of the five-year fellowship award (section 3.9) is a requirement on the host institution in order to provide a career path for the academic fellow. An award will not be made to an HEI without this guarantee being made.
	The statement at section 3.5, however, refers to the eligibility of the individual candidate. We do not believe that it is appropriate that someone with a permanent position, or the promise of one, should undertake a further five years of training towards an academic position. A previous promise by an HEI to provide a permanent position to a researcher shows an existing commitment to the individual and therefore further support through the academic fellowships scheme is unnecessary.

Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what evaluation has been made of the ideal skills mix of the Board of the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC); what the selection criteria are for members of the board how and by whom appointments are made; what contribution CCLRC has made to implementation of the recommendations of the North West Science and Daresbury development group; what input CCLRC has made to the North West Science Strategy; and what targets and milestones have been set by CCLRC to progress the strategy.

Patricia Hewitt: A number of evaluations have been made of the template for Council membership in recent years, but, in terms of skills, the basic mix of academic user and industry representation has remained unchanged. Last year the number of members was increased to include a greater number of independent industry or user representatives. We intend to keep the template more generally under review. The Minister for Science makes all appointments to the Council on my behalf in accordance with the requirements of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. This is a competitive process overseen by a panel with independent members who recommend candidates who best fit the advertised role and person specification, drawn up in the light of CCLRC's assessment of its needs for expertise.
	The CCLRC and the OST have invested £6 million and £8 million respectively, to progress the Energy Recovery LINAC project, providing the underpinning technology and design for a Fourth Generation Light Source (4GLS). This activity is based mainly at the CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory. CCLRC collaborated closely with the North West universities regarding the recently announced PPARC/CCLRC-supported Cockcroft Institute for Accelerator Science, also to be located at Daresbury. As a result, the CCLRC will co-locate its related accelerator science and technology research activity with the Cockcroft Institute. The results of a CCLRC/North West Development Agency joint-funded analysis of the opportunities for commercial exploitation of Daresbury Laboratory research, and the options for a proposed mixed-economy Daresbury Campus, have now been received. The latter activity will involve the North West Universities and industrial partners with the CCLRC, and the participants are seeking to establish a new "North West Science Partnership" by summer 2004.

Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what targets the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) has set for the commercial exploitation of intellectual property to stimulate regional growth in the North West; what CCLRC's vision is for collaboration with the North West Science Council; and how the CCLRC intends to work with the North West Regional Development Agency to generate regional economic growth.

Patricia Hewitt: CCLRC seeks actively to develop exploitation routes for its research via its totally owned commercial exploitation company, CLIK, which was established in April 2002. Five new CLIK-generated high technology companies are already in the final stages of formation, three of which are based on research and associated technologies developed at the CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory. The CLIK business plan is based on the formation of three new CCLRC spin-out companies per year for each of the next five years.
	CCLRC has interacted closely with the activities of the North West Science Council (NWSC) since its inception. The Director of the Daresbury Laboratory has been a member throughout this period, and he and his staff also maintain close relations with the NWDA. This has led already to the construction of two new NWDA-supported high technology buildings immediately adjacent to the DL site, on land previously owned by CCLRC, in order to provide easily accessible space for new high technology, spin-out companies and associated business support advisers. The CCLRC/NWDA interaction has also already led to the successful implementation of a number of major new joint-funded projects, which are or will be based at the DL/NWDA Campus including SUPERSTEM, the Energy Recovery Linac project and the new Cockcroft Accelerator Science Centre. Opportunities for new nanotechnology/nanoscience activities and also a new Centre for Instrumentation are also currently being explored.

Electricity Generation

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the associated backup costs for wind penetration of (a) 10 per cent., (b) 15 per cent. and (c) 20 per cent.; and what the assumptions are underpinning these estimates.

Stephen Timms: Estimates of the back-up costs of renewables, including wind power, were made in the report "Quantifying the System Costs of Additional Renewables in 2020" commissioned from consultants ILEX as part of the analysis for the February 2003 Energy White Paper. The report is available on the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/developep/080scar   report   v2   0.pdf.
	The report considered the additional costs associated with increasing the proportion of renewables generation to 20 per cent. and 30 per cent. by 2020.
	Table 12 of the report indicates that the back-up costs of wind power, in terms of generating capacity and system balancing would be of the order of £6 to £7 per MWh of wind generation. Details of the assumptions used and the analysis applied are contained in the report.
	Estimates have not been made for lower penetrations of renewables. However, the report indicates that back-up costs associated with wind are less than £1 per MWh higher in scenarios where renewables reach 30 per cent. of generation, compared with scenarios where renewables reach 20 per cent. of generation.
	Under the electricity trading arrangements, generators have strong financial incentives to deliver the power they have contracted to sell to electricity suppliers.

Electricity Generation

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the backup costs for electricity generated from (a) wind energy and (b) nuclear power.

Stephen Timms: Estimates of the back-up costs of renewables, including wind power, were made in the report "Quantifying the System Costs of Additional Renewables in 2020" commissioned from consultants ILEX as part of the analysis for the February 2003 Energy White Paper. The report is available on the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/developep/080scar   rcport   v2   0.pdf.
	Table 12 of the report indicates that the back-up costs of wind power, in terms of generating capacity and system balancing would be of the order of £6 to £7 per MWh of wind generation in 2020. Details of the assumptions used and the analysis applied are contained in the report.
	Estimates of the back-up costs of nuclear power have not been made.

Energywatch

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what Energywatch's budget was in each year since it was created, how many calls it received from consumers in each year; and what assessment she has made of Energywatch's ability to help gas and electricity consumers.

Stephen Timms: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  Expenditure (£ million) Complaints Non-complaint inquiries 
		
		
			 2000–01 (1)7.62 (2)77,705 n/a 
			 2001–02 (3)18.99 (4)72,362 106,015 
			 2002–03 (5)11.97 109,230 70,856 
			 2003–04 (6)12.39 72,079 90,000 
			 2004–05 (7)13.29 — — 
		
	
	(1) Transitional funding
	(2) Complaints to OFGEM, Gas Consumers' Council and Energywatch
	(3) Includes £8.1 million transitional funding
	(4) Excludes February and March 2002, for which no data are available
	(5) Includes £0.29 million transitional funding
	(6) Includes £0.29 million transitional funding
	(7) Budget. Includes £0.29 million transitional funding
	Energywatch has significantly aided energy consumers by, among other things, assisting individuals in their dealings with energy companies; promoting the consumer interest as a whole, particularly in areas such as mis-selling, the transfer process and the billing and metering practices of energy companies; and representing the interests of disadvantaged consumers.

Fireworks

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people were (a) killed and (b) injured as a result of accidents and incidents involving fireworks in the last five years.

Stephen Timms: The firework injury statistics for 2003 are not yet available. The statistics for the previous four years are as follows:
	
		
			  (a) Deaths (b) Injuries 
		
		
			 2002 0 1,017 
			 2001 0 1,362 
			 2000 2 972 
			 1999 0 1,056 
		
	
	The figures in the table are based on the total number of people treated at hospital casualty departments in Great Britain during a 4 week period around bonfire night.

Ministerial Meetings/Visits

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list (a) the official meetings she has had with the Mayor of London since July 2000 and (b) the dates and subject of each meeting.

Patricia Hewitt: I met the Mayor of London on 8 November 2001, the subject of the meeting was regeneration.

Ministerial Meetings/Visits

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Minister of State (Energy, e-Commerce and Postal Services) next plans to visit Japan.

Stephen Timms: I am due to visit Japan on 16–19 May.

Panel for Regulatory Accountability

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many members of the Panel for Regulatory Accountability have worked in the private sector; and in what capacity.

Douglas Alexander: I have been asked to reply.
	Membership consists of myself as Chair, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Hewitt) and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Boateng). All current members of the Panel for Regulatory Accountability have worked in the private sector. Biographies are available at: http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/alms.cfm
	In addition, the Chair of the Better Regulation Task Force (David Arculus) and the Chair of the Small Business Council (William Sargent) are invited to attend the panel. Their biographies can be found at:
	http://www.brtf.gov.uk/taskforce/members/DavidArculus.htm and
	http://www.sbs.gov.uk/default.php?page=/sbc/members.php
	Copies of the biographies have also been placed in the Library.

Renewable Energy

Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the effect of recent trends in investment in renewable energy upon the residents of Wigan.

Stephen Timms: Recent trends in renewable energy investment have been very encouraging. More new capacity has been constructed in the last few years than in the previous decade, and a significant amount is currently in the pipeline. This covers a wide range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and biomass.
	However, as far as I am aware this has not translated into new or proposed capacity in the Wigan area.

Renewable Energy

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the recent trends in investment in renewable energy and the effect of those trends upon residents of Preston.

Stephen Timms: Recent trends in renewable energy investment have been very encouraging. More new capacity has been constructed in the last few years than in the previous decade, and a significant amount is currently in the pipeline. This covers a wide range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and biomass.
	However, as far as I am aware this has not translated into new or proposed capacity in the Preston area.

Renewable Energy

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations she has received on renewable energy targets and their achievement; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The Government's renewable energy target is that renewable energy sources will supply 10 per cent. of our electricity by 2010. The target is challenging as we are starting from a low base; provisional figures suggest that in 2003, 2 per cent. of electricity was generated from sources eligible for the Renewables Obligation. However, the target is achievable. As the SEPN annual report published earlier this week indicates, we have made an encouraging start.
	We have received many representations from stakeholders regarding the targets, and we have listened to them. An example of this is our plan to increase the level of the Renewables Obligation (RO) in the period after 2010, so that it reaches 15.4 per cent. by 2015–16. By increasing the Obligation in these years, this will greatly assist investor confidence and in particular help with the financing of new projects needed to deliver output by 2010.

Ultra-wideband Wireless Networks

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to license ultra-wideband wireless networks.

Stephen Timms: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) as the independent regulator. Accordingly, my officials have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to respond directly to my hon. Friend. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Wind Turbines

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations she has received on the proposal for wind turbines in the Thames Estuary; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: On 16 March I met representatives from the Chamber of Shipping, Trinity House, the Port of London Authority and the British Marine Aggregate Producers Association for a general discussion on a number of navigation related issues in relation to the 15 proposed Round 2 offshore wind farms, 4 of which are planned in the Thames Estuary. To date my Department has not received any development consent applications for a Round 2 wind farm. Before developers can submit applications they must undertake a full environmental impact assessment including a navigational risk assessment in consultation with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and other shipping interests. To ensure that all views on consent applications are taken into account, at the time developers submit applications for consent to my department they must advertise the project in both national and local press so that any person can make representations to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. All representations are then taken into consideration before a decision is made on whether to give consent.

Winkleigh Biomass Project

John Burnett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what studies have been conducted by (a) central Government and (b) the South West Regional Development Agency of potential (i) fossil fuel savings and (ii) additional fossil fuel use if the proposed Winkleigh Biomass Project is completed and running at full capacity; and with what results.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 29 April 2004
	No such studies have been commissioned or undertaken by the DTI. The developer as part of the application process did undertake an initial assessment of the fossil fuel savings from such a plant. And as part of the assessment process the assessors took into account the estimates made by the proposers.
	No such studies have been commissioned or undertaken by the South West Regional Development Agency either. Further detail will be found in the planned Environmental Impact Assessment, which will include an evaluation of potential road traffic.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Area Plans

David Trimble: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the target date is for the implementation of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The publication date for the Plan has not yet been finalised. Work on the Draft Plan is now well advanced. If the Draft Plan passes through its final stages within the normal time scale, the target for publication is late autumn.
	These final stages include:
	Clearance by other Government Departments; and
	Assessment by the Department of Regional Development for "conformity with the Regional Development Strategy".

Bangor Hospital

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to enhance the services available at Bangor hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: Bangor hospital currently offers GP in-patient services, a minor injuries service and a wide range of other secondary, intermediate and primary care services. Social care and voluntary sector services are also provided at the hospital. Work is ongoing to develop further the services provided, including the introduction of an advanced digital imaging system that, in addition to improving the quality of the x-ray service, will further enhance the hospital's minor injuries service.

British-Irish Joint Declaration

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in implementing those aspects of the British-Irish Joint Declaration that deal with security normalisation.

Ian Pearson: The Joint Declaration, which was published by both Governments on 1 May last year, gave a commitment to the complete normalisation of security over a two-year period, in the context of an enabling environment.
	The Prime Minister announced in a statement on 1 May 2003 that the Government would on some aspects of normalisation, push on and do what we can. Since then two towers at Cloghoge and Tievecrum were demolished in June and the Chief Constable announced on 11 February that Clooney Army base in Londonderry would be closed and sold and the Army would vacate the joint Police/Army base at Aughnacloy.
	Any further steps will only be taken in light of the threat and the Chief Constable's advice.

Housing Executive Properties

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals were awaiting placement in housing executive properties, broken down by area, in the last year; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: The information is not readily available in the format requested.
	The following table shows the numbers of households at 31 March 2004 requiring social housing (Housing Executive and Housing Association) broken down by the applicant's stated preference of Housing Executive District Office area.
	The waiting list is not static as households move on and off the list during the course of the year. The trend in demand for social sector accommodation continues to rise steadily. The increases in demand are most pronounced in urban areas and in the east of the province.
	
		Number of households on the waiting list at 31March 2004
		
			 Housing executive district Number 
		
		
			 Belfast 1 926 
			 Belfast 2 1,479 
			 Belfast 3 839 
			 Belfast 4 801 
			 Belfast 5 647 
			 Belfast 6 1,001 
			 Belfast 7 1,746 
			 Antrim 709 
			 Ballycastle 225 
			 Ballymena 1,032 
			 Ballymoney 286 
			 Carrickfergus 839 
			 Coleraine 855 
			 Larne 370 
			 Newtownabbey 1 631 
			 Newtownabbey 2 662 
			 Armagh 559 
			 Banbridge 410 
			 Dungannon 517 
			 Fermanagh 734 
			 Lurgan 659 
			 Newry 1,301 
			 Portadown 413 
			 Bangor 1,488 
			 Castlereagh 984 
			 Downpatrick 919 
			 Lisburn Antrim Street 1,362 
			 Lisburn Dairy Farm 514 
			 Newtownards 1,174 
			 Cookstown 230 
			 Limavady 337 
			 Londonderry 1 623 
			 Londonderry 2 457 
			 Londonderry 3 531 
			 Magherafelt 356 
			 Omagh 370 
			 Strabane 529 
			 Total 27,515

NHS Dentists

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to increase the numbers of dentists working for the NHS in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The Department has put in place a comprehensive work force planning mechanism that reviews, on an annual basis, supply and demand issues across all HPSS professional groups. The first report on the dental staff group has been completed and its findings did not indicate any general recruitment difficulties with this group. Nevertheless, the position will be kept under review through the Department's work force planning process.

Parliamentary Questions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Parliamentary Questions have been tabled to his Department since 1 January 2003, broken down by (a) Ordinary Written and (b) Named Day; what percentage in respect of (a) were answered within 10 working days; and what percentage in respect of (b) were answered by the specified date.

Paul Murphy: The information is not available in the form requested.
	However, from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003, 3134 Parliamentary Questions were tabled to the Northern Ireland Office.
	From 1 May 2003 to 31 December 2003, the 11 Departments of the NI administration answered 986 Ordinary Written questions of which 79 per cent. were responded to within a working week of the question being tabled. Of the 65 Named Day questions tabled in the same period 80 per cent. were answered by the specified date. The corresponding information in respect of the Northern Ireland Office is not currently available on the same basis.

Prostate Cancer

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in dealing with prostate cancer in Northern Ireland in the past two years.

Angela Smith: Patients with prostate cancer may be treated either by the regional urology service at the Belfast City hospital or by the Cancer Units at Antrim, Altnagelvin, Craigavon and Ulster hospitals. Strong linkages have been developed between these units in recent years.
	Funding has recently been made available for the appointment of an additional urology consultant, with a special interest in uro-oncology, to be recruited jointly between BCH and the Ulster hospitals, and for the appointment of an additional consultant urologist at Craigavon Area hospital. A number of specialist nurses have also been appointed at BCH, the Ulster hospital and elsewhere. Altnagelvin, the Ulster and BCH have developed nurse-led fast track assessment clinics with direct access to urology consultants. Craigavon also plans to introduce this service to help ensure prompt access to investigations and treatment.

Radioactive Contamination (Chernobyl Accident)

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many farms in Northern Ireland, comprising what land areas and in what locations, have restrictions applied to them in respect of land use as a result of the residual radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Ian Pearson: It is estimated that 153 farms in Northern Ireland located in three small hill areas at Glenwherry in Co. Antrim and Belraugh and Glenshane in Co. Londonderry had controls applied to the movement and slaughter of sheep as a result of the residual radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear accident. The three areas extended to some 21,612 acres (8,752 hectares).

Register of Interests

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the requirements are on officials in his Department to declare current interests; and what register of interests is kept for his departmental officials.

Ian Pearson: The requirements placed upon officials employed in NI Departments and the Northern Ireland Office are set out in the Conduct Sections of the Northern Ireland Civil Service Pay and Conditions of Service Code and the Civil Service Management Code (Home Civil Service). These requirements place responsibility on officials to declare to senior management, as appropriate and when necessary, their current interests. The declaration must include the likelihood of possible conflicts of interest and, where appropriate, seek approval before proceeding with a particular course of action. The contents of the respective Codes are drawn to the attention of officials as part of induction programmes.
	While there is no register of interests maintained centrally in respect of officials working in the NI departments or in the Northern Ireland Office, three NI departments, because of the specialised nature of their business and the interaction with the private sector and non-departmental public bodies, have established departmental registers.

Secondary School Entry (Craigavon)

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what effect the ending of academic selection for entry to secondary schools as recommended by the Costello Report would have on the Two Tier Dickson system in use in Craigavon; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: Schools and school managing authorities, working together in local areas, will develop new post-primary arrangements that best provide for the needs of all pupils and take account of local wishes, needs and circumstances. A two-tier system could continue to operate provided all pupils have access to the Entitlement Framework.

Waiting Lists

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of using independent hospitals outside Northern Ireland to reduce local waiting lists.

Angela Smith: Health and Social Services Boards purchase services from independent hospitals as an appropriate short-term measure to allow patients to receive their treatment more quickly. During 2002–03 and 2003–04, 628 patients were transferred to various independent hospitals outside Northern Ireland as part of a range of initiatives to reduce waiting lists and waiting times.

Water Conservation

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will support pilot schemes to promote water conservation among low income households and vulnerable people in order to reduce the impact of water charging.

John Spellar: The Chief Executive of Water Service (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) has written to the hon. Lady in response to this question.
	Letter from Mrs. Katherine Bryan to Lady Hermon, dated 30 April 2004
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question (No. 168642) concerning his support for pilot schemes to promote water conservation amongst low-income households and vulnerable people in order to reduce the impact of water charging.
	In recognising that there is a relationship between water conservation and water consumption it is equally important to recognise that they are not synonymous. Water Service's second Water Efficiency Plan, which I launched in January 2004, sets out a wide range of measures aimed at reducing demand from water. In addition to Water Service's leakage reduction strategy, it involves a proactive approach to water conservation by all customers, including raising awareness and the further promotion of water saving devices such as Hippo Bags. The combination of conservation measures taken by Water Service and reduced consumption by customers should help to reduce projected water demand. This will ultimately reduce the charge to customers.
	Changes to water consumption patterns could have a more direct impact on individual's water bills under a metered water regime. In some circumstances, lower consumption could result in a reduced bill. However, no decision has yet been taken on the form of water charging to be introduced. Research and analysis into the consequences of different approaches is currently being undertaken and the impact of charges on low-income households and vulnerable groups is one of the issues being considered.
	The Government is fully committed to measures that encourage water conservation. I am advised that in June 2002 and November 2003, Water Service officials met with Eaga-partnership Ltd., which is promoting a water conservation programme known as Watersmart and is interested in undertaking a pilot study in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, the results of pilot study undertaken by Eaga-Partnership Ltd. in the Essex and Suffolk Water Company indicated that the costs of the programme are considerably in excess of the cost of comparable leakage reduction measures currently being undertaken by Water Service and would not therefore represent good value for money The company was informed of the position and agreed to provide additional information on the economic benefits of the programme. To date, Water Service has received no further communication from the company.
	Water Service continually keeps its activities and procedures under review in order to improve effectiveness and deliver improved value for money to customers and taxpayers. It will continue to consider any proposals, including other pilot schemes, which would contribute to improved water conservation.

Water Conservation

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to improve water efficiency in (a) low income households, (b) domestic premises, (c) small businesses and (d) public sector offices; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: The Chief Executive of Water Service (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) has written to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	Letter from Mrs. Katharine Bryan to Mr. Eddie McGrady, dated 29 April 2004
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question (No. 168930) about what plans he has to improve water efficiency in low income households, domestic premises, small businesses and public sector offices. I have been asked to reply as Chief Executive of the Water Service.
	Water Service's second Water Efficiency Plan was formally launched in January 2004. The Plan sets out how Water Service proposes to extend its information and awareness campaign and to provide advice to all of the community including low income households, domestic premises, small businesses and public sector offices. Water Service will continue to extend its programme of exhibitions at major events, presentations to local groups as well as displays at local shopping centres across Northern Ireland. In addition the successful Water Bus mobile exhibition will continue to deliver the water conservation message to schools, with all children who attend being provided with a home copy of water efficiency information to give to their parent or guardian. All public sector offices have received a full water conservation pack containing Hippo bags, posters, etc and Water Service will continue to work with the public sector to promote water efficiency. Water Service has also sent small businesses and Government offices further information on how to improve water efficiency when it issued metered water accounts in 2003.

Water Conservation

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what further research has been undertaken following the Northern Ireland Audit Office report into water efficiency in 2001; and if he will make a statement on water efficiency targets in Northern Ireland.

John Spellar: The Chief Executive of Water Service (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) has written to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	Letter from Katharine Bryan to Mr. Eddie McGrady, dated 29 April 2002
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question (No 168931) about what further research has been undertaken following the Northern Ireland Audit Office report into water efficiency in 2001, and water efficiency targets in Northern Ireland. I have been asked to reply as Chief Executive of the Water Service.
	Water Service is committed to addressing the issues raised by the Northern Ireland Audit Office and has carried out a comprehensive review of its Water Efficiency Plan. A revised Water Efficiency Plan was formally launched in January 2004 which aims to reduce the demand for water through effective leakage management and other water conservation measures. The Plan promotes a more proactive approach to leakage reduction, water conservation including raising awareness, and the further promotion of water saving devices such as Hippo Bags. It also includes a new Leakline number for customers to report leakage incidents.
	A major element of the Water Efficiency Plan is to reduce leakage from the water distribution system and Water Service has an annual water efficiency target which aims towards achieving a reduction in leakage to an economic level of 172 million litres per day in March 2007. Provisional outturn for 2003/2004 indicates that Water Service has achieved its leakage reduction targets for the past two years, resulting in total leakage being reduced by almost 60 million litres per day. The water efficiency target for 2004/2005 is to reduce leakage from the water distribution system by a further 28 mi8llion litres per day, to a level of 205 million litres per day by 31 March 2005. Water Service is committed to meeting this leakage target through upgrading the water infrastructure and by targeting resources to detect and repair leaks.

WALES

Civil Servants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for each Civil Service grade within his Department, the total number of staff employed and set out the number employed by (a) gender, (b) ethnic group (c) registered disabled and (d) age group.

Don Touhig: Data on staffing levels in the Civil Service is collected by the Cabinet Office and published in the Civil Service Statistics. A copy of the Civil Service Statistics, 2002 is available in the Library, and at www.civil-service.gsi.gov.uk/statistics. The 2003 edition will be published in summer 2004.
	The Wales Office Departmental Report 2003 (Cm 5928) provides data on staff numbers for the Wales Office for year 2002–03. Tables 5.7 and 5.8 of this publication show staff numbers with disabilities. A copy of the Wales Office Departmental Report 2003 can be obtained from the Library of the House.
	Information on numbers of staff employed by age group is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Computers

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to update computer (a) hardware and (b) software standard packages used in his Department.

Don Touhig: The Wales Office IT is provided as part of the DCA's corporate network. There are no plans to update the existing hardware. Our PFI supplier will, as part of their contractual commitment, update software, including operating systems, office automation and applications, within the next 12 months.

North Wales Police

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the National Assembly for Wales Secretaries about the use of Private Finance Initiative by North Wales Police in respect of (a) refurbishment and replacement of police stations and (b) generally.

Don Touhig: My right hon. Friend and I regularly meet with Assembly Secretaries to discuss matters affecting Wales.
	The allocation of Private Finance Initiative credit approvals rests with the Home Office. Police projects in Wales also need approval from the National Assembly who fund annual service charges through their revenue grant. Decisions on which projects to support are entirely for the Assembly.

Register of Interests

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the requirements are on his officials to declare current interests; and what register of interests is kept for his departmental officials.

Don Touhig: The Civil Service Management Code sets out the requirement for civil servants declaring any conflict of interest.
	Any such declarations are retained on file.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Tourism (Manchester)

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the work of regional development agencies in developing tourism in Manchester, Gorton.

Tessa Jowell: The North West Development Agency (NWDA) is working closely with Marketing Manchester, the nominated Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for Manchester. The new DMOs are, in effect, smaller versions of tourist boards. They aim to ensure a strong visitor and market focus to all that is done within the region and strengthen the connection between businesses and other organisations in the tourism sector.
	During 2003–04 Marketing Manchester received £695,000 from the NWDA's marketing image budget for tourism and investment campaigns to promote Manchester. £203,000 was also provided from the agency's tourism budget for a variety of tourism development projects.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adult Community Learning Budget

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the Adult Community Learning Budget is for each English local authority area, expressed (a) in cash terms and (b) per head of population.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 29 April 2004
	I have set out in the following table the total budget as set by central Government for adult and community learning run through local education authorities in England.
	The information requested concerning the adult and community budget for each English local authority area expressed (a) in cash terms and (b) per head of population is not to hand. However, it is being collated and I will write to the hon. Member shortly, and place a copy of my reply in the Libraries of both Houses.
	
		Adult and community learning
		
			  Funding (£ million)(8) 
		
		
			 2000–01 145 
			 2001–02 153 
			 2002–03 183 
			 2003–04 206 
		
	
	(8) Total budget, by financial year, on adult and community learning run through local education authorities (recurrent figures). The figures for 2002–03 and 2003–04 include the budgets for neighbourhood learning and family learning, starting from a nil base in 2001–02.

African Educational Institutions

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what support (a) his Department and (b) UK educational institutions have given to developing courses for African educational institutions in respect of (i) teacher training courses, (ii) training of health professionals, (iii) distance learning courses and (iv) other courses; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: UK Government support for courses for African education institutions in respect of teacher training, training for health professionals, distance learning courses and other courses, is provided by the Department for International Development and I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 31 March 2004, Official Report, columns 1444–45W.
	There is no central record of the support UK higher education institutions provide for developing courses for education institutions.

British National Party

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to protect young school children from the campaigning conducted by the British National Party in schools to promote racist propaganda and racist activities.

Stephen Twigg: There are safeguards in Sections 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996 against the promotion and pursuit of partisan political views or activities. Governing Bodies, teachers and LEAs must take reasonable steps to offer pupils a balanced presentation of opposing views where political or controversial issues are brought to their attention. With the introduction of Citizenship education as a statutory subject, pupils have an opportunity to develop their political awareness, critical thinking and the nature of prejudice including racism. All schools have been sent guidance on citizenship education which covers teaching of sensitive and controversial issues.

Class Sizes

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Burnley were taught in classes of more than 30 on the latest date for which figures are available.

Stephen Twigg: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Maintained primary and secondary schools (9): number of pupils in classes of 31 or more pupils taught by one teacher—January 2003
		
			   Number of pupils in classes of 31 or more 
			 Burnley parliamentary constituency Total pupils all classes Number of pupils Percentage of pupils (10) 
		
		
			 Maintained Primary 7,651 1,395 18.2 
			 Maintained Secondary 6,272 995 15.9 
		
	
	(9) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(10) Percentage of pupils in those classes expressed as a percentage of pupils in all classes taught by one teacher.
	Source:
	Annual Schools' Census

Class Sizes

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Manchester, Gorton were taught in classes of more than 30 on the latest date for which figures are available.

Stephen Twigg: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Maintained primary and secondary schools(11): Number of pupils in classes of 31 or more pupils taught by one teacher—January 2003
		
			   Number of pupils in classes of 31 or more 
			 Manchester, Gorton parliamentary constituency Total pupils in all classes Number of pupils Percentage of pupils(12) 
		
		
			 Maintained Primary 6,750 808 12.0 
			 Maintained Secondary 5,662 535 9.4 
		
	
	(11) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(12) Percentage of pupils in those classes expressed as a percentage of pupils in all classes taught by one teacher.
	Source:
	Annual Schools' Census.

Class Sizes

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Heywood and Middleton were taught in classes of more than 30 on the latest date for which figures are available.

Stephen Twigg: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Maintained primary and secondary schools (13): number of pupils in classes of 31 or more pupils taught by one teacher—January 2003
		
			   Number of pupils in classes of 31 or more 
			 Heywood and Middleton parliamentary constituency Total pupils all classes Number of pupils Percentage of pupils (14) 
		
		
			 Maintained Primary 8,744 2,142 24.5 
			 Maintained Secondary 5,954 711 11.9 
		
	
	(13) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(14) Percentage of pupils in those classes expressed as a percentage of pupils in all classes taught by one teacher.
	Source:
	Annual Schools' Census

Class Sizes

James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Stalybridge and Hyde were taught in classes of more than 30 on the latest date for which figures are available.

Stephen Twigg: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Maintained primary and secondary schools (15): number of pupils in classes of 31 or more pupils taught by one teacher—January 2003
		
			   Number of pupils in classes of 31 or more 
			 Stalybridge and Hyde parliamentary constituency Total pupils in all classes Number of pupils Percentage of pupils (16) 
		
		
			 Maintained Primary 7,930 1,274 16.1 
			 Maintained Secondary 5,685 854 15.0 
		
	
	(15) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(16) Percentage of pupils in those classes expressed as a percentage of pupils in all classes taught by one teacher.
	Source:
	Annual Schools' Census

Computers for Schools

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding has been spent on computers for schools in each of the last seven years in (a) Liverpool, (b) Manchester, (c) Leeds and (d) Sheffield.

David Miliband: Schools in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield local education authorities have benefited from the funding through the Standards Fund grant for ICT (including match funding from the LEA) as follows:
	
		£
		
			  Allocation to: 
			  Liverpool LEA Manchester LEA Leeds LEA Sheffield LEA 
		
		
			 1998–99 978,576 983,605 1,700,000 1,200,000 
			 1999–2000 1,050,000 1,410,000 1,350,000 900,000 
			 2000–01 2,096,082 1,861,602 2,986,463 1,899,247 
			 2001–02 2,306,630 2,012,866 3,356,591 2,242,424 
			 2002–03 3,247,326 2,932,949 4,687,707 3,997,782 
			 2003–04 3,229,701 2,880,827 4,762,382 3,078,495 
			 2004–05 4,120,244 3,682,324 6,139,762 3,969,335

Computers for Schools

Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding has been spent on computers for schools in Wigan in each of the last seven years.

Charles Clarke: My Department does not collect information on school spend on computers at constituency level. However, in the last seven years schools in Wigan LEA have benefited from the following funding through the Standards Fund grant for ICT (including match funding from the LEA).
	
		
			  Allocation to Wigan LEA (£) 
		
		
			 1998–99 685,947 
			 1999–2000 675,000 
			 2000–01 1,328,513 
			 2001–02 1,483,483 
			 2002–03 2,141,147 
			 2003–04 2,557,655 
			 2004–05 2,775,768

Computers within Reach Programme

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) teachers and (b) families in Burnley have benefited from the Computers within Reach programme.

Charles Clarke: The Computers within Reach (CWR) scheme closed on 31 October 2001 having delivered over 24,000 recycled computers to people in 22 pilot areas, at a cost of £7.1 million over two years. Those eligible were in receipt of certain working age benefits or a State Pension with minimum income guarantee.
	At the same time as funding was made available for the Computers within Reach scheme, funding was also provided for the Computers for Teachers programme. For teachers who met certain criteria, this programme subsidised the cost of a computer. It was subsequently replaced by the current Laptops for Teachers scheme which dispensed with subsidies, and through which sufficient funding will be provided to enable two thirds of teachers to receive a laptop by March 2006.
	Burnley was not one of the pilot areas for the CWR scheme.

Computers within Reach Programme

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) teachers and (b) families in Preston have benefited from the Computers within Reach programme.

Charles Clarke: The Computers within Reach (CWR) scheme closed on 31 October 2001 having delivered over 24,000 recycled computers to people in 22 pilot areas, at a cost of £7.1 million over two years. Those eligible were in receipt of certain working age benefits or a State Pension with minimum income guarantee.
	At the same time as funding was made available for the Computers within Reach scheme, funding was also provided for the Computers for Teachers programme. For teachers who met certain criteria, this programme subsidised the cost of a computer. It was subsequently replaced by the current Laptops for Teachers scheme which dispensed with subsidies, and through which sufficient funding will be provided to enable two thirds of teachers to receive a laptop by March 2006.
	Preston was not one of the pilot areas for the CWR scheme.

Computers within Reach Programme

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) teachers and (b) families in Heywood and Middleton have benefited from the Computers within Reach programme.

Charles Clarke: The Computers within Reach scheme closed on 31 October 2001 having delivered over 24,000 recycled computers to people in 22 pilot areas, at a cost of £7.1 million over two years. Those eligible were in receipt of certain working age benefits or a state pension with minimum income guarantee.
	At the same time as funding was made available for the Computers within Reach scheme, funding was also provided for the Computers for Teachers programme. For teachers who met certain criteria, this programme subsidised the cost of a computer. It was subsequently replaced by the current Laptops for Teachers scheme which dispensed with subsidies, and through which sufficient funding will be provided to enable two thirds of teachers to receive a laptop by March 2006.
	Of the 24,000 computers delivered through the Computers within Reach scheme, approximately 2,200 were for people in the Manchester area including those in and around Heywood and Middleton.

Departmental Expenditure (Entertainment)

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his latest estimate is of the amount spent by his Department on official entertainment in each year from 1996–97 to 2004–05.

Charles Clarke: All expenditure on official entertainment is made in accordance with departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on the principles set out in Government Accounting. The following table sets out such spending in £000s for DfES and its predecessor Department in the relevant years.
	
		£000
		
			  Department for Education and Employment Department for Education and Skills 
		
		
			 1996–97 24 — 
			 1997–98 21 — 
			 1998–99 31 — 
			 1999–2000 21 — 
			 2000–01 20 — 
			 2001–02 — 11 
			 2002–03 — 16 
			 2003–04(17) — 18 
			 2004–05 — Not available 
		
	
	(17) Estimated outturn.

Departmental Grants

Tim Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many bodies receive some or all of their funding from his Department; what amount of funding was received by each body in each year since 1997; and who the chief executive is of each body.

Charles Clarke: The information on funding of executive non-departmental public bodies is published annually in the Departmental Report. Information on the chief executives is contained in the individual annual reports issued by each of the executive non-departmental public bodies. Information on other bodies is not available, except at disproportionate cost.

Earn As You Learn

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of children he expects will be persuaded to remain at school beyond their GCSEs through the earn as you learn scheme.

Ivan Lewis: Extensive independent evaluation of the Education Maintenance Allowance pilots shows that EMA increased participation by eligible 16-year-olds in education by 5.9 percentage points. Judged against historic trends, this represents a major increase. Based on evidence from the pilots, the evaluators predict that in the first year of the national scheme, some 35,000 additional young people will participate in post-16 education in colleges and schools as a result of EMA, and that this will rise to over 70,000 per year when EMA is fully in place.

Education Psychologists

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many education psychologists were working (a) in each local education authority and (b) in total in each year since 1997.

David Miliband: The following table shows the number of education psychologists employed in each local education authority in England in each year from 1997 to 2003, the latest information available.
	
		Educational psychologists  -- Full-time equivalent
		
			  In Service (January of each year) 
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 LEA
			 City of London — — — — — — — 
			 Camden 8 8 8 11 12 11 13 
			 Greenwich 16 17 16 13 15 16 21 
			 Hackney 11 10 11 12 13 12 11 
			 Hammersmith andFulham 7 8 9 8 6 8 10 
			 Islington 10 13 12 14 12 10 9 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 9 10 8 8 6 7 7 
			 Lambeth 13 8 11 13 15 15 14 
			 Lewisham 14 14 13 13 14 14 12 
			 Southwark 14 11 12 12 12 13 12 
			 Tower Hamlets 14 30 16 15 14 13 13 
			 Wandsworth 11 12 11 11 11 12 12 
			 City of Westminster 10 7 7 7 9 9 9 
			 Barking and Dagenham 13 11 12 14 12 13 13 
			 Barnet 16 16 16 14 16 12 16 
			 Bexley 11 10 11 11 10 9 9 
			 Brent 12 10 9 10 11 12 11 
			 Bromley 12 12 12 11 12 10 10 
			 Croydon 10 15 14 13 12 14 12 
			 Ealing 13 14 24 15 14 16 12 
			 Enfield 15 13 18 21 19 21 17 
			 Haringey 15 13 15 14 12 10 10 
			 Harrow 11 5 9 10 11 10 9 
			 Havering 8 10 10 10 10 10 11 
			 Hillingdon 12 14 15 14 16 14 16 
			 Hounslow 10 11 10 11 11 10 8 
			 Kingston upon Thames 5 7 6 7 5 8 8 
			 Merton 7 7 7 7 10 10 7 
			 Newham 12 13 16 19 18 16 13 
			 Redbridge 8 8 10 10 7 10 10 
			 Richmond upon Thames 7 8 8 7 6 — 6 
			 Sutton 6 5 7 9 11 9 8 
			 Waltham Forest 13 13 13 13 8 12 18 
			 Birmingham 39 40 46 23 46 46 53 
			 Coventry 13 13 14 15 16 16 16 
			 Dudley 11 11 12 8 12 11 10 
			 Sandwell 14 15 14 16 15 16 13 
			 Solihull 9 10 10 11 10 9 11 
			 Walsall 11 13 12 12 11 9 8 
			 Wolverhampton 12 13 10 13 15 18 17 
			 Knowsley 9 8 9 9 9 — 6 
			 Liverpool 16 16 15 15 14 21 17 
			 St. Helens 6 8 7 6 8 8 9 
			 Sefton 10 11 11 10 14 14 16 
			 Wirral 14 13 14 13 12 11 11 
			 Bolton 8 8 8 9 9 10 10 
			 Bury 8 7 6 8 9 5 6 
			 Manchester 18 21 22 18 21 20 21 
			 Oldham 7 8 8 9 9 9 6 
			 Rochdale 8 9 9 8 9 8 7 
			 Salford 10 8 8 11 9 8 6 
			 Stockport 12 11 11 11 10 12 13 
			 Tameside 8 10 10 10 10 10 9 
			 Trafford 5 5 5 4 7 5 6 
			 Wigan 12 12 12 12 10 11 13 
			 Barnsley 4 7 7 7 8 6 6 
			 Doncaster 11 12 11 11 10 11 12 
			 Rotherham 12 11 8 7 9 10 12 
			 Sheffield 19 21 22 23 26 22 21 
			 Bradford 19 19 21 22 22 20 18 
			 Calderdale 8 7 7 8 9 5 8 
			 Kirklees 22 23 20 23 25 22 23 
			 Leeds 15 17 19 22 20 22 24 
			 Wakefield 10 10 11 9 9 11 13 
			 Gateshead 9 10 10 10 7 11 11 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 14 10 15 11 9 10 10 
			 North Tyneside 7 8 6 8 9 9 9 
			 South Tyneside 6 8 5 7 7 7 5 
			 Sunderland 12 12 14 16 11 19 15 
			 Isles of Scilly — — 1 — — — — 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 5 5 5 9 7 10 9 
			 City of Bristol 17 14 16 19 20 24 14 
			 North Somerset 8 8 9 12 11 10 9 
			 South Gloucestershire 7 7 9 10 11 11 10 
			 Hartlepool 3 4 4 3 2 4 3 
			 Middlesbrough 5 7 7 7 6 6 6 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 
			 Stockton on Tees 9 5 7 6 8 9 10 
			 City of Kingston UponHull 8 8 10 10 11 12 12 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 8 8 8 7 9 9 7 
			 North East Lincolnshire 4 5 5 6 6 5 6 
			 North Lincolnshire 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 
			 North Yorkshire 13 14 16 15 15 17 16 
			 York 7 7 7 8 8 9 7 
			 Bedfordshire 16 6 10 10 12 12 12 
			 Luton — 5 5 6 7 6 6 
			 Total former Bedfordshirearea 16 11 16 16 19 18 18 
			 
			 Buckinghamshire 25 18 20 20 19 24 24 
			 Milton Keynes — 10 7 10 12 10 11 
			 Total formerBuckinghamshire area 25 28 27 30 30 34 35 
			 
			 Derbyshire 32 22 21 23 21 28 30 
			 Derby — 9 9 11 11 12 11 
			 Total former Derbyshirearea 32 31 29 34 32 40 42 
			 
			 Dorset 25 14 13 13 13 15 16 
			 Poole — 6 6 5 5 6 6 
			 Bournemouth — 4 5 6 6 6 8 
			 Total former Dorset area 25 24 24 23 24 27 30 
			 
			 Durham 23 16 21 21 23 23 25 
			 Darlington — 4 3 4 4 4 4 
			 Total former Durhamarea 23 20 24 25 27 27 29 
			 
			 East Sussex 18 12 14 13 17 18 20 
			 Brighton and Hove — 7 7 8 8 12 13 
			 Total former East Sussexarea 18 19 21 20 25 30 33 
			 
			 Hampshire 61 49 48 50 43 45 46 
			 Portsmouth — 11 9 14 11 10 11 
			 Southampton — 10 12 13 13 12 12 
			 Total former Hampshirearea 61 70 69 77 67 66 69 
			 
			 Leicestershire 26 21 23 25 21 28 26 
			 Leicester — 13 13 13 21 23 20 
			 Rutland — — — 1 — — — 
			 Total formerLeicestershire area 26 34 36 38 42 51 46 
			 
			 Staffordshire 28 21 20 22 19 23 24 
			 Stoke on Trent — 6 8 6 6 8 12 
			 Total former Staffordshirearea 28 27 28 29 25 31 36 
			 
			 Wiltshire 13 14 21 16 14 17 14 
			 Swindon — 6 5 7 7 6 7 
			 Total former Wiltshirearea 13 20 26 22 21 23 21 
			 
			 Former Berkshire 21 20 — — — — — 
			 Bracknell Forest — — 3 3 3 2 4 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead — — 7 6 5 5 7 
			 West Berkshire — — 5 6 8 9 9 
			 Reading — — 4 5 5 6 8 
			 Slough — — 5 8 10 6 8 
			 Wokingham — — 5 5 5 6 8 
			 Total former Berkshirearea 21 20 29 33 36 34 44 
			 
			 Former Cambridgeshire 20 20 — — — — — 
			 Cambridgeshire — — 19 18 17 17 17 
			 Peterborough — — 7 7 7 8 8 
			 Total formerCambridgeshire area 20 20 26 25 23 24 25 
			 
			 Former Cheshire 30 28 — — — — — 
			 Cheshire — — 19 24 18 21 18 
			 Halton — — 4 5 5 5 5 
			 Warrington — — 6 10 6 8 6 
			 Total former Cheshirearea 30 28 29 39 29 35 28 
			 
			 Former Devon 35 33 — — — — — 
			 Devon — — 21 19 22 27 26 
			 Plymouth — — 10 9 10 12 12 
			 Torbay — — 4 4 4 4 5 
			 Total former Devon area 35 33 34 32 35 43 42 
			 
			 Former Essex 63 61 54 60 64 69 68 
			 Essex — — 46 48 52 58 57 
			 Southend on Sea — — 4 5 6 5 6 
			 Thurrock — — 5 8 6 6 5 
			 Total former Essex area 63 61 54 60 64 69 68 
			 
			 Former Hereford andWorcestershire 22 20 — — — — — 
			 Herefordshire — — 5 6 6 6 8 
			 Worcestershire — — 20 19 23 24 25 
			 Total former Herefordand Worcester area 22 20 25 24 28 30 33 
			 
			 Former Kent 56 50 — — — — — 
			 Kent — — 38 44 42 44 46 
			 Medway — — 10 10 10 8 10 
			 Total former Kent area 56 50 47 54 52 52 56 
			 
			 Former Lancashire 55 52 — — — — — 
			 Lancashire — — 41 43 42 38 40 
			 Blackburn with Darwen — —;8 9 8 6 7 
			 Blackpool — — 5 6 7 6 4 
			 Total former Lancashirearea 55 52 54 58 57 50 51 
			 
			 Former Nottinghamshire 33 31 — — — — — 
			 Nottinghamshire — — 23 25 26 21 23 
			 Nottingham — — 9 9 15 15 16 
			 Total formerNottinghamshire area 33 31 32 35 41 36 39 
			 
			 Former Shropshire 13 13 — — — — — 
			 Shropshire — — — — — — — 
			 Telford and Wrekin — — 14 15 17 14 12 
			 Total former Shropshirearea 13 13 14 15 17 14 12 
			 
			 Cornwall 13 13 13 13 13 13 17 
			 Cumbria 17 17 17 20 24 18 17 
			 Gloucestershire 9 9 18 18 19 22 23 
			 Hertfordshire 35 35 36 35 32 34 31 
			 Isle of Wight 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 
			 Lincolnshire 19 15 17 17 19 24 21 
			 Norfolk 24 22 24 21 21 20 18 
			 Northamptonshire 23 29 28 28 26 29 25 
			 Northumberland 9 9 9 15 9 17 11 
			 Oxfordshire 18 20 19 21 22 26 29 
			 Somerset 16 17 21 24 24 21 22 
			 Suffolk 16 20 20 19 19 20 20 
			 Surrey 34 31 31 34 37 39 38 
			 Warwickshire 15 15 18 20 16 16 16 
			 West Sussex 22 23 22 24 26 26 28 
			 Total England 1,768 1,788 1,867 1,929 1,956 2,020 2,026 
		
	
	Source:
	Annual survey of teachers in service and teacher vacancies (618g)

Education Statistics (Havering)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total education budget awarded to Havering was in (a) 1997, (b) 1999, (c) 2001, (d) 2003 and (e) 2004.

David Miliband: The following table provides the total education funding for 1997–98 to 2004–05. There have been changes to the structure of Standard Spending Assessments and their successor from 2003–04, Education Formula Spending, which make them incomparable over time: for example, several large transfers from SSA/EFS to grant funding. Only total funding per pupil (including SSA/EFS and grants) is comparable between years. Also, for 2003–04 and 2004–05, pension transfers to EFS and the Learning and Skills Council are excluded from EFS and total funding figures to enable comparison between years.
	
		£ million (real terms at 2002–03 prices)
		
			  SSA/EFS Grants(18) Grants 
		
		
			 1997–98 98.5 3.5 101.9 
			 1998–99 104.2 1.6 105.7 
			 1999–2000 106.4 2.6 109 
			 2000–01 110.7 8.1 118.8 
			 2001–02 115.1 12.9 128 
			 2002–03 113.1 17.6 130.7 
			 2003–04 116.6 (19)18.4 (19)135 
			 2004–05 121.2 (20)18.9 (20)140.1 
		
	
	(18) Grants are all revenue grants in DfES Departmental Expenditure Limits relevant to EPS pupils aged three to 19. Education Maintenance Allowance's (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LEA level are excluded.
	(19) Provisional.
	(20) Estimated.
	Note:
	Real terms figures based on GDP deflators as at 26 March 2004 (2002–03 prices).

Education Statistics (Havering)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many new computers the Department plans to put in schools in the next five years; and how many of those will be put in schools in Havering.

Charles Clarke: Our targets for 2004 were to achieve computer: pupil ratios of 1:8 in primary schools and 1:5 in secondary schools. We have already reached the primary school target and confidently expect to reach the secondary target this year. Funding for ICT in schools is currently available through the Standards Fund and the Devolved Capital Grant and it is for schools to decide how to spend their allocations to best meet their local need and circumstances.

Education Statistics (Havering)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the forecast budget for the Borough of Havering for education is for 2005–06.

David Miliband: The Government do not produce forecast budgets by local education authority. The settlement for 2005–06 will be announced in the autumn of 2004.

Electronic On-screen Assessment

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions his Department has had with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority regarding electronic on-screen assessment.

Stephen Twigg: The effective use of electronic on-screen assessment will have an important role to play in supporting learners in schools and colleges in the future. Both Ministers and officials in this Department have discussed with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority ways in which electronic assessment can be introduced, while maintaining standards; ensuring access for all learners; and guaranteeing high security levels. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is developing more detailed plans for electronic on-screen assessment, and we look forward to further discussions with it as we seek to promote greater use of such techniques in the learning process.

Examination Boards

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the readiness of the examination boards for this summer's examinations.

David Miliband: In 2003, the summer examinations ran smoothly, and students received their results on time. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, as regulator, is in close contact with the examination awarding bodies to achieve the same outcomes in summer 2004.
	Last November the Secretary of State announced that £100 million would be available over the next two years to help modernise the examination system and ensure its safe delivery. I am glad to say that investment is already delivering improvements. More examiners are being recruited, and training is being provided for examination officers in schools and colleges. Further investment is planned to improve the system for transfer of examination information between schools; colleges and awarding bodies, and streamlining and making more secure the movement of examination papers and scripts. We look forward to close co-operation between the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and examination awarding bodies to ensure our investment creates an examinations system which fully meets the needs of students, both this year and in the future.

Examination Results

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many (a) black Caribbean, (b) Pakistani, (c) black African, (d) Bangladeshi, (e) white, (f) Indian and (g) Chinese (i) males and (ii) females achieved five A*-C grades at GCSE in each year since 1994;
	(2)  how many (a) Pakistani, (b) black African, (c) Bangladeshi, (d) white, (e) Indian, (f) Chinese and (g) black Caribbean (i) males and (ii) females achieved level 2 or above at Key Stage 1 in (A) English, (B) mathematics and (C) science in each year since 1994;
	(3)  how many (a) black Caribbean, (b) Pakistani, (c) black African, (d) Bangladeshi, (e) Indian, (f) Chinese and (g) white (i) males and (ii) females achieved level 5 or above at Key Stage 3 in (A) English, (B) mathematics and (C) science in each year since 1994;
	(4)  how many (a) Pakistani, (b) black African, (c) Bangladeshi, (d) white, (e) Indian, (f) Chinese and (g) black Caribbean (i) males and (ii) females achieved level 4 or above at Key Stage 2 in (A) English, (B) mathematics and (C) science in each year since 1994.

David Miliband: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

Information and Communications Technology (School Funding)

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much money has been allocated to schools in Manchester, Gorton for information and communications technologies since 2001.

Charles Clarke: I refer my right hon. Friend to my answer to his question on the funding spent on computers for schools in Manchester, Gorton in each of the last seven years on 27 April 2004, Official Report, column 985W.

School Funding (Wigan)

Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how much funding each school in the Wigan constituency has received from the New Deal for Schools;
	(2)  how much public money has been spent on repairing schools in Wigan in each year since 1997;
	(3)  how much money has been invested in Wigan to build sustainable school sports.

David Miliband: Table A shows the schools in the Wigan constituency that benefited from investment through the New Deal for Schools (NDS) programme, which ran between 1997–98 and 2000–01.
	Since 2001, the majority of capital support has been allocated to schools and local education authorities by formula, and they decide how to invest it in line with their asset management plans. The Department does not, therefore, have complete information about capital investment at constituency level; this should be held at local authority level.
	Table B sets out the capital support made by the Department to Wigan local education authority and its schools since 1997–98, in total and by programme (including all allocations through NDS mentioned in table A).
	The Government are investing significant funding to enhance school sports facilities across England. The New Opportunities for PE and Sport Programme is providing £581.25 million in England (£25 million of which has gone towards the Space for Sport and the Arts Programme) and schools from all local education authority areas are benefiting. The Space for Sport and the Arts Programme is providing £130 million to support projects at primary schools in 65 target areas; £4,310,000 will be invested in Wigan to build sustainable school sports facilities. All funds from these programmes have now been allocated to local authorities and schools.
	
		Table A: NDS allocations to schools in the Wigan constituency
		
			 Year/School Project Package Funding (£) 
		
		
			 1997/98
			 Wigan St. Andrew's CofE Junior and Infant School To renew a backlog of defective roof coverings LEA wide grant 720,000 
			 Mab's Cross Primary School To renew a backlog of defective roof coverings LEA wide grant 720,000 
			 Pemberton Primary and Nursery School Major repair and replacement of decrepit WC blocks LEA wide grant 720,000 
			 Beech Hill Community Primary School Major repair and replacement of decrepit WC blocks LEA wide grant 720,000 
			 Mere Oaks School Major repair and replacement of decrepit WC blocks LEA wide grant 720,000 
			 
			 1998/99
			 Beech Hill Community Primary School Replacement of dining hall/kitchen — 439,600 
			 
			 2000/01
			 The Deanery CofE High School Replacement of dilapidated accommodation — 150,000 
			 Scot Lane Community Primary School Toilet Refurbishment (Group 1) Project including 13 schools 362,840 
			 Mab's Cross Primary School Toilet Refurbishment (Group 1) Project including 13 schools 362,840 
		
	
	
		Table B: Capital allocations: Wigan local education authority -- £000
		
			  1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Additional NDS Grant (615) — — — — — 200 — — 
			 Assistance with AMPs — — — 42 — — — — 
			 Basic L C Vap — — — — — 130 743 958 
			 Basic Need 2,784 1,685 1,529 4,210 4,318 1,640 4,382 5,927 
			 Class Size initiative — — 670 1,124 237 — — — 
			 Condition — — — — — 1,620 3,291 4,464 
			 Devolved Formula — — — — 2,279 2,200 2,874 4,478 
			 Energy — — 99 — — — — — 
			 Modernisation — — — — — — 1,338 2,745 
			 NDS 1 — 720 — — — — — — 
			 NDS 2 — — 2,618 — — — — — 
			 NDS 3 — — — 3,797 — — — — 
			 NDS 4 — — — — 4,055 — — — 
			 Nursery Provision — — — — 69 — — — 
			 School Labs — — — — 202 202 — — 
			 School Security — 84 105 106 105 74 64 — 
			 Schools Access Initiative 90 30 71 150 210 324 455 661 
			 Schools Renewal Challenge Fund 264 — — — — — — — 
			 Secondary Learning Support Units — — — — 79 85 108 — 
			 Seed Challenge — — — — 206 232 394 393 
			 Specialist Schools — — — 100 100 — 200 — 
			 Staff Workspace — — — — — — 79 164 
			 Successful Speculative Bids — — — — — — 437 — 
			 Supplementary Credit Approvals 581 1,586 1,279 228 — — — — 
			 Supplementary NDS for VA Schools — — — — 126 18 — — 
			 Targeted Capital Funding — — — — — 468 — — 
			 Voluntary Aided School Grant 757 2,367 2,907 1,036 829 1,111 1,457 — 
		
	
	To date we have allocated £20.5 million capital funding for 2004–05 and 2005–06.

Positive Activities for Young People

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills why the money for the Positive Activities for Young People Initiative is not paid directly to youth and community services.

Ivan Lewis: Positive Activities for Young People is a targeted programme that aims to provide diversionary and developmental activities for young people aged eight to 19 years who are at risk of social exclusion or committing crime. There was no one organisation at the local level which covered the whole age group or range of activities. In order to meet the above objectives and to ensure that regional needs and priorities were met, Government Offices were chosen to administer the programme. It is also the role of Government Offices to work with local partners such as Youth Offending Teams and Behaviour Improvement Programme schools to ensure that the target group of young people is reached.
	52 Lead Delivery Agents (LDAs) have been appointed across England to manage the delivery of the programme and the performance of the providers delivering the activities. In eight of the 52 areas the LDA role is performed by the Local Authority Youth Service.

SATs

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the Key Stage One pilots; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The trial started in September 2003 and will cover the 2004 Key Stage 1 assessments, which are not due to be completed until the second half of the summer term. It is therefore too early to have made an assessment of the trial at this stage.
	QCA has commissioned an independent evaluation from Leeds university which will focus on a representative sample of 150 of the 5,000 schools taking part in the trial. The evaluation will look at workload and whether the new arrangements ensure really robust and comparable results that can be used as a basis for calculating value-added. We expect a full report to be ready at the beginning of September.

School Sports

Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the level of investment in school sports in Wigan since 1997.

Stephen Twigg: The information is not held in the format requested. Within the context of the statutory National Curriculum, where Physical Education (PE) is compulsory for pupils aged 5–16, it is for individual schools to use their budgets as they judge appropriate.
	The Government are investing more than £1 billion in England to transform PE, school sport and club links. The funding will help deliver an ambitious Public Service Agreement target, shared with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to increase the percentage of 5–16 year olds who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum to 75 per cent. by 2006.
	The Department is providing just over £830,000.00 to support the delivery of a School Sport Partnership in the Wigan LEA area. The partnership includes 14 secondary and 40 primary schools and provides enhanced sports opportunities for all young people to ensure that their pupils spend a minimum of two hours a week on high quality PE and School Sport. A key objective for all School Sport Partnerships is to ensure that the improvements and enhanced opportunities that they deliver are sustainable and embedded within schools to ensure a lasting legacy. The New Opportunities Fund has provided schools in the Wigan LEA area with over £4.3 million specifically to enhance PE and school sport facilities.

School Sports

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much money has been invested in Heywood and Middleton since 1997 to build long-term sustainable facilities for school sports.

David Miliband: We do not hold information at constituency level. The majority of capital funding is now allocated to schools and authorities by needs-related formulae. This enables them to decide how to target the rapidly increasing resources to address their highest priority needs in line with local asset management plans. I would direct my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to his question 168497, which lists capital allocations made to Rochdale local education authority since 1997. Rochdale also received £2,873,000 in November 2001 under the New Opportunities PE and Sports Programme, which is administered by the New Opportunities Fund.

School Tests

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the merits of performance testing in schools.

David Miliband: Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. National Curriculum testing provides an objective means of testing all children in the country on a consistent basis. It is an important part of the overall drive to raise standards in the core subjects at the primary and secondary stages and lays firm foundations for future learning.
	The information from testing helps teachers to identify strengths and weaknesses, which can then be used to inform teaching and learning. It allows us to compare the progress of children in different schools and provides parents with clear feedback against national standards.

School Tests

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 11-year-old pupils in the Easington constituency, broken down by school, have reached level four in mathematics and English in the last four years; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The results from the 2003 National Curriculum tests showed that 75 per cent. of 11-year-olds in England reached Level 4 in English and 73 per cent. in mathematics. These results represent a significant improvement in standards—of 12 percentage points in English and 11 percentage points in mathematics—since 1997, reflecting the impact of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies on primary schools. We remain absolutely committed, through our new Primary Strategy, to supporting schools to achieve the ambitious targets we have set for standards of literacy and numeracy.
	The results for Easington constituency as a whole, are slightly below the national average in English and above the national average for mathematics and show only a small improvement in mathematics since 2000.
	The results for Easington constituency broken down by school are as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage of pupils achieving level 4 
			  2003 2002 2001 2000 
			 School Name English Maths English Maths English Maths English Maths 
		
		
			 Acre Rigg Junior School 68 61 73 62 57 66 73 60 
			 Blackball Colliery Primary School 51 60 64 71 71 63 80 75 
			 Cotsford Junior School 68 77 71 82 78 85 78 70 
			 Dene House Primary School 64 68 63 63 69 75 82 76 
			 Deneside Junior School 51 59 78 77 73 67 38 53 
			 Easington CofE Primary School 100 75 83 83 73 67 71 82 
			 Easington Colliery Primary School 70 67 58 65 76 55 60 51 
			 Eden Community Primary School 60 42 — — — — — — 
			 Eden Hall Junior School — — 56 53 50 66 56 62 
			 Haswell Primary School 54 54 20 27 50 29 58 47 
			 Hesleden Primary School 85 92 86 86 63 74 87 67 
			 Howletch Lane Primary School 89 91 68 88 86 90 84 87 
			 Murton Jubilee Primary School 75 88 93 85 64 89 74 84 
			 Murton Primary School 70 91 90 97 71 75 63 73 
			 New Seaham Primary School 84 93 86 95 83 90 90 100 
			 North Blunts Primary School 74 83 70 76 66 59 50 43 
			 Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary 90 85 85 69 88 88 89 89 
			 Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary 84 91 73 75 79 86 81 75 
			 Our Lady Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary 62 81 68 75 84 68 81 81 
			 Princess Road Junior School 66 56 68 50 67 73 65 76 
			 Ropery Walk Primary School 63 56 81 81 77 77 76 79 
			 Shotton Hall Junior School 85 81 70 79 75 76 82 75 
			 Shotton Primary School 59 65 57 59 63 57 65 64 
			 South Hetton Primary School 76 76 94 97 100 96 88 88 
			 St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School 72 72 84 94 88 96 79 86 
			 St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School 88 88 100 100 91 100 100 83 
			 St. Mary Magdalen's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School 79 86 76 79 96 87 91 91 
			 Westlea Primary School 80 89 73 89 84 87 71 63 
			 Yohden Primary School 65 74 63 67 57 71 55 72 
			 Easington Constituency (all schools) 71 73 71 74 73 74 71  
			 England (all schools) 75 73 75 73 75 71 75 72 
		
	
	Note:
	The results for St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Murton and Glendene School have been suppressed as there are less than 11 pupils at Key Stage 2

Schools (External Controls)

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list (a) each of the external controls over schools referred to in the document, "Devolved Decision Making: Delivering Better Public Services: Refining Targets and Performance Management", and (b) the purpose of each.

Stephen Twigg: The definition of external control used in the document is a very broad one. The list identified includes very few direct requirements of schools, but rather a wide range of school performance measures, the majority of which are attributable to Ofsted and their arrangements for conducting section 10 inspections. These place no performance management requirements on schools as nearly all of them are graded judgments made by inspectors when they visit a school on, currently, a six-year cycle.
	Ofsted have recently consulted on and are reviewing their current arrangements for school inspection to ensure that parents, teachers, Government and the public continue to receive full, frank, relevant and more frequent information about the performance of schools whilst reducing the burden of inspection. The Department is also currently consulting on an approach to a school profile through which the schools' performance would be recorded.

Secondary School Places

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many vacant secondary school places there were in Northamptonshire, broken down by (a) school year group, (b) borough or district area and (c) individual establishment, at the start of the spring term of the school year 2003–04.

David Miliband: The following table shows the number of surplus secondary school places in Northamptonshire broken down by individual establishment. The figures state the position at the beginning of the calendar year beginning 2003 rather than the school year.
	We do not collect surplus place data by school year group, or borough or district area.
	
		Number of surplus places in secondary schools in Northamptonshire at January 2003
		
			 Secondary school name Surplus places 
		
		
			 Sponne School 0 
			 Montsaye Community College 1 
			 Huxlow School 86 
			 Ise Community College 92 
			 Moulton School 0 
			 Roade School Sports College 0 
			 Daventry William Parker School 18 
			 Wollaston School 0 
			 Kingsbrook School 0 
			 Guilsborough School 0 
			 Campion School 0 
			 Prince William School 108 
			 Danetre School 148 
			 Latimer Community Arts College 35 
			 Trinity School 313 
			 Delapre Middle School 143 
			 Cherry Orchard Middle School 10 
			 Kingsthorpe Middle Community School 0 
			 Cliftonville Middle School 212 
			 Duston Upper School 117 
			 Weston Favell Upper School 41 
			 Abington Vale Middle School 3 
			 Mereway Upper School 257 
			 Lings Upper School 302 
			 Kingsthorpe Community College 153 
			 Goldings Middle School 118 
			 Ryelands Middle School 11 
			 Parklands Middle School 1 
			 The Northampton School for Girls 0 
			 Boothville Middle School 4 
			 Blackthorn Middle School 194 
			 Millway Middle School 0 
			 Chenderit School 0 
			 Spencer Middle School 142 
			 Oundle and King's Cliffe Middle School 107 
			 The Ferrers School 13 
			 Ecton Brook Middle School 0 
			 The Rushden School 288 
			 Mereway Middle School 0 
			 Corby Community College 240 
			 Magdalen College School 92 
			 Bishop Stopford School 0 
			 All Saints Church of England Middle School 0 
			 St. David's Catholic Middle School 14 
			 Our Lady and Pope John Catholic SecondarySchool 177 
			 St. Mary's Catholic Middle School; Northampton 87 
			 Thomas Becket Catholic Upper School 91 
			 Emmanuel CofE Voluntary Aided MiddleSchool 131 
			 Southfield School for Girls 29 
			 Kingsley Park Middle School 83 
			 The Kingswood School 0 
			 The King John School 112 
			 Northampton School for Boys 175 
			 Lodge Park Technology College 29 
			 Manor School 0 
			 Montagu School 0 
			 Weavers School 230 
			 Sir Christopher Hatton School 74 
			 Wrenn School 117 
			 Total 4,598

Student Statistics

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the staying-on rate at 16 years is for (a) Canvey Island, (b) Castle Point, (c) Essex and (d) England.

David Miliband: Data on the percentage of students staying on in full-time education and education and training is not calculated for areas smaller than local education authorities (LEAs) as reliable estimates cannot be made.
	Canvey Island and Castle Point are part of Essex LEA. The percentage of 16-year-olds participating in full-time education, and in education and training in Essex LEA and in England for the latest academic year, as at end 2001, are shown in the table.
	
		Participation in education and training by 16-year-olds in Essex LEA and in England for end 2001
		
			  Essex LEA England 
		
		
			 Full-time education 70 71 
			 Education and training(21) 79 82 
		
	
	(21) Includes participation in full-time education, part-time education and government supported training.
	Source:
	DfES Statistical Bulletin 01/2004, published 26 February 2004.
	Participation rates by LEA for 16-year-olds are published in an annual statistical bulletin, 'Participation in Education and Training by 16 and 17-year-olds in Each Local Area in England'.

Teachers' Visas

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether at any future Ofsted inspection of schools account will be taken of the consequences of the moratorium on issuing visas to teachers appointed to meet the teaching skills and recruitment shortage in schools in Essex and Thurrock, pending the result of the inquiry and visits to Sofia of Mr. Ken Sutton; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: holding answer 30 April 2004
	This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, David Bell, will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of his letter in the Library.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Leaseholders (Buildings Insurance)

Sue Doughty: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will implement the parts of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 that will allow leaseholders to choose their own buildings insurance; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: Our original intention was to make an Order by May 2004 bringing into force the remaining provisions of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002. These provisions include those relating to property insurance for leasehold houses, accounting and forfeiture. However, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister needs to consult on the accounting provisions that form part of this Order, allowing a three-month consultation period. We now anticipate the Order being made in November 2004.

Civil Servants

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list for each civil service grade within his (a) Department and (b) Department's executive agencies, the total number of staff employed, broken down by (i) gender, (ii) ethnic group and (iii) age group; and how many are registered disabled.

Yvette Cooper: Data on staffing levels in the civil service is collected by the Cabinet Office and published in Civil Service Statistics. A copy of Civil Service Statistics, 2002 is available in the Library of the House, and at; www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics. The 2003 edition will be published in summer 2004.
	In addition, our Departmental Annual Report also contains staffing information. A copy of the 2004 report is available in the Library of the House.

Departmental Buildings

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) renovation and (b) maintenance projects on buildings (i) owned and (ii) rented by his Department were undertaken in each of the last five years; and what the associated costs were of each.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established in May 2002. Since that date the following renovation and maintenance projects have been undertaken at the properties (i) owned and (ii) rented by the office. All figures are exclusive of VAT.
	
		£
		
			  2002–03 2003–04 
			  Renovation Maintenance Renovation Maintenance 
		
		
			 (i) Owned 
			 Burlington House 0 98,000 25,000 55,000 
			 QEII Conference Centre 0 139,418 400,000 3,127,511 
			 Fire Service College 230,257 108,097 956,008 182,151 
			 Government Office Network 0 0 0 0 
			 (ii) Rented 
			 ODPM—HQ buildings 2,088,941 0 298,263 649,394 
			 PINS—Temple Quay Bristol 0 0 0 109,316 
			 Fire Service Improvement—Marchington 0 42,416 0 52,766 
			 Valuation Tribunal Office Network 42,822 255,204 115,166 193,059 
			 Government Office Network 102,351 143,000 608,989 191,740 
		
	
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister records an item of work as a project if it exceeds £15,000. Work of lower value is funded from bulk maintenance. The number of projects has prevented detailing each, as this could have been provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The figures provided are gross expenditure and do not reflect receipts from other building occupants. Although the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has overall responsibility for the buildings occupied by Government offices, they carry out functions on behalf of 10 Departments.

Housing Developments (Milton Keynes/South Midlands)

David Lidington: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the submissions made by the Government Office for the South East to the Examination in Public of plans for housing developments in the Milton Keynes and South Midlands area to 2031.

Keith Hill: The submission of GOSE to the Milton Keynes and South Midlands sub regional strategy public examination is contained in the joint submission by GOEE, GOEM and GOSE.
	Copies of the joint submission have been made available in the Library of the House.

Hunting (Tied Properties)

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to protect the tenancy rights of those employed by a hunt living in a tied property in the event of a ban on hunting being introduced.

Keith Hill: The Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976, which provides housing security for qualifying agricultural workers living in tied accommodation, takes its definition of agriculture from the Agriculture Wages Act 1948. The definition does not extend to workers employed solely in activities not related to agriculture such as gamekeeping and hunting. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no plans to extend the definition to cover such activities.

Retained Distribution Centre

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the publications and other products distributed from his retained distribution centre.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's publications distribution centre holds over 1,300 items for distribution. A list of publications and other products has been made available in the Library of the House.

Roadside Advertising

Ben Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what advice his Department offers local authorities regarding positioning of roadside and roundabout advertising.

Keith Hill: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 30 April 2004, Official Report, column 1332W.

Town Centres

Graham Stringer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  when he intends to publish the final version of PPS6;
	(2)  how many responses have been received to the consultation paper Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 6: Planning for Town Centres; and if he will list them;
	(3)  how many organisations and individuals were invited to respond to Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 6: Planning for Town Centres; and if he will list them.

Keith Hill: Draft PPS6: Planning for Town Centres was published on 15 December 2003, was launched by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, was widely publicised, put on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website and some 500 copies were sent to a standard list of consultees, including all local authorities, relevant professional and trade bodies, plus investors, developers, retailers, leisure operators and environmental groups—in line with the guidelines on consultation at that time. The consultation closed on 15 March 2004.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received 384 responses to date, which officials are currently analysing. All responses, except those where the respondent did not agree to their response being made public, will be made available in the library of the House, consistent with normal practice, when the final version of PPS6 is published in the autumn.

Traffic and Community Wardens

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the responsibilities of (a) traffic wardens and (b) community wardens are.

Yvette Cooper: Traffic wardens are civilian employees of police authorities, but act under the direction of chief officers of police. Section 95 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 makes provision for them to discharge duties, including law enforcement, normally undertaken by the police in connection with the control and regulation of traffic and stationary vehicles. These functions relate to the control and regulation of, and enforcement of the law relating to, traffic, including pedestrians and stationery vehicles. Traffic wardens can also require vehicles to stop for specific purposes. The powers conferred on traffic wardens and the duties they may undertake are prescribed very precisely by the Home Secretary in the Functions of Traffic Wardens Order 1970, as amended.
	Part 1 of the Traffic Management Bill empowers the Secretary of State for Transport as the traffic authority for trunk roads in England, and the National Assembly for Wales as the traffic authority for trunk roads in Wales, to establish a uniformed on-road traffic officer service to manage the traffic consequences of random incidents such as breakdowns, obstructions, debris and accidents.
	The Bill enables traffic officers to carry out certain traffic management functions currently carried out on trunk roads by the police in order to deal with incidents and keep traffic moving. Specifically the Bill would provide traffic officers with powers to stop and direct traffic and to place and operate traffic signs. These powers are similar to those of the police and may only be exercised in order to:
	assist the movement of traffic;
	prevent or reduce congestion;
	avoid danger to persons or traffic; or
	prevent damage to anything on or near the road.
	The traffic officer service will comprise uniformed officials patrolling motorways and trunk roads in England around the clock. They will be appointed by the Highways Agency directly, although the Bill allows flexibility for the service to be contracted out should it ever be decided that this is in the public interest.
	Responsibilities for community wardens vary according to local priorities. Wardens and warden schemes do however need to fulfil the four broad categories of environmental improvements, community safety and crime prevention, community development and housing regeneration. They provide a link between local residents and key agencies such as local authorities and the police. And they encourage neighbourhoods to develop innovative ways to tackle their environmental problems and the behaviours that create an atmosphere of neglect and encourage crime.

Unoccupied Property

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many unoccupied non-domestic properties paid empty property business rates in England in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many unoccupied industrial properties were exempt from property business rates in England in each year since 1997.

Nick Raynsford: Local authorities have reported that 240,830 non-domestic properties in England received empty premises relief in 2002–03. The latest available figure for 2003–04 is 237,035, as estimated by local authorities in early 2003. Figures were not collected centrally for earlier years, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the number of unoccupied industrial properties in England that are not required to pay business rates is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Unoccupied Property

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many empty residential dwellings there were in England in each year since 1997.

Keith Hill: The available information on empty residential dwellings in England is tabled as follows. This data has been provided from a combination of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Housing Investment Programme return and Housing Corporation's Regulatory Statistical Return.
	
		Vacant dwelling stock, England 1997–2003
		
			  HIP and RSR(23) 
		
		
			 1997 767,000 
			 1998 753,000 
			 1999 767,000 
			 2000 761,000 
			 2001 751,000 
			 2002 732,000 
			 2003 720,000 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures presented to the nearest thousand.
	Sources:
	ODPM's Housing Investment Programme return and Housing Corporation's Regulatory Statistical Return.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Indonesia

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent violence in Aceh.

Jack Straw: The British Government regularly raise their concerns about the situation in Aceh with the Indonesian Government, most recently on 20 April 2004 when the British ambassador to Jakarta called on the Indonesian Head of the armed forces, General Sutarto. My hon. Friend the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Mike O'Brien) also raised Aceh with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Dr. Wirayuda, when he met him at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Kildare on 18 April.
	There continue to be reports of human rights abuses perpetrated by the Free Aceh Movement (the GAM) and the Indonesian armed forces. We are monitoring the situation closely. The Indonesian military has said that it will continue to court-martial soldiers arrested on suspicion of human rights abuses.
	We, with our EU partners, continue to urge the Indonesian Government to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible, as only negotiation will offer a long-term solution to this ongoing conflict.

Indonesia

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on end use monitoring of UK arms exports used in Aceh by Indonesian forces.

Jack Straw: Our embassy in Jakarta receives information from a wide a range of sources including international agencies, NGOs, other observers, the media and the Indonesian Government as part of their efforts to monitor the use of British-built military equipment. We have had no confirmed reports that British-built military equipment has been used other than for protection and evacuation purposes. We will follow up all credible allegations on the misuse of British-military equipment.
	On 18 April 2004 at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Kildare, my hon. Friend the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Mike O'Brien) raised with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Dr Wirayuda, the use of British-built military equipment in Aceh.
	On 20 April 2004 the British ambassador to Jakarta met the Indonesian Head of the armed forces, General Sutarto. General Sutarto told our ambassador that he had ordered the withdrawal of all remaining British equipment from Aceh. The only British-built equipment in Aceh are armoured vehicles and they have only been used for supply convoy protection and casualty evacuation.

Conflict Prevention Pool

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of the independent evaluations of the Global Conflict Prevention Pool and the African Conflict Prevention Pool.

Bill Rammell: The joint external evaluation of the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool and the Global Conflict Prevention Pool began in June 2003. The fact-finding phase was completed in December 2003 and a final draft report including a synthesis of the main findings and recommendations has now been produced.
	The evaluators concluded that the Conflict Prevention Pools are funding worthwhile activities, which make positive contributions to effective conflict prevention, and that the progress achieved through the Pools mechanisms is significant enough to justify their continuation. They also considered that the Pools were demonstrating increasingly good joined-up working between the three Departments.
	The interim conclusions of the evaluation helped inform recent work on the Spending Review 2004 process.
	Final editing of the Evaluation report is now being done. In summer 2004, the Evaluation, and the Government's response to it, will be published and made available to the House.

Conflict Prevention Pool

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how often the joint steering team responsible for the Global Conflict Prevention Pool has met in each year since 2001–02.

Bill Rammell: The Steering Team of the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) comprises officials from FCO, MOD and DfID as well as representatives of HM Treasury and Cabinet Office.
	They have met, usually fortnightly, throughout each year since the GCPP's inception in April 2001, although at busier times they meet every week.

Conflict Prevention Pool

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what funds were allocated to the (a) Global Conflict Prevention Pool and (b) African Conflict Prevention Pool in each year since 2001–02; and how much was spent in each year.

Bill Rammell: The budget and spend information requested for (a) The Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) is as follows:
	
		To nearest £ million
		
			 Financial year Funds allocated Spend 
		
		
			 2001–02 60 50 
			 2002–03 68 66 
			 2003–04 74 (22)86 
		
	
	(22) Current forecast—departmental accounts to be finalised in summer 2004.
	Note:
	Does not include Peacekeeping figures.
	The budget and spend information requested for (b) The Africa Conflict Prevention Pool (ACPP) is as follows:
	
		To nearest £ million
		
			 Financial year Funds allocated Spend 
		
		
			 2001–02 50 43 
			 2002–03 50 45 
			 2003–04 50 (23)40+ 
		
	
	(23) Current forecast—departmental accounts to be finalised in summer 2004.
	Note:
	Does not include Peacekeeping figures.

Hong Kong

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the decision of the National People's Congress Standing Committee on 26 April to refuse to introduce universal suffrage for the election of the Hong Kong Chief Executive in 2007.

Bill Rammell: On 26 April, I issued a press release about the Chinese National People's Congress decision on constitutional development in Hong Kong.
	The record of the statement can be found on the British Consulate General in Hong Kong's website at www.britishconsulate.org.hk/english/press/pr040426.htm.

Iraq

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department had on how the UN Oil For Food programme in Iraq was audited.

Bill Rammell: The management and administration of the Oil For Food (OFF) programme was carried out by the UN's Office of the Iraq Programme under a mandate from UN Security Council resolutions. Regular reports were made to and discussed by the UN Security Council. In light of on-going allegations of corruption during the lifetime of the OFF programme, the UK fully supports the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1538 (21 April 2004) endorsing a high-level independent inquiry into the management and administration of the programme, and will co-operate fully with that inquiry.

Iraq

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with other UN Security Council members on the fee levied by the UN for operating the Oil For Food programme in Iraq.

Bill Rammell: The Government had regular discussions with the UK's Security Council partners on all aspects of the operation of the Oil For Food (OFF) programme until it ended on 21 November 2003. In light of ongoing allegations of corruption during the lifetime of the OFF programme, the UK fully supports the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1538 (21 April 2004) endorsing a high-level independent inquiry into the management and administration of the programme, and will co-operate fully with that inquiry.

Ministerial Visits

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the overseas visits made by each Minister in his Department in financial year 2003–04.

Jack Straw: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The details for the financial year 2003–04 will be published as soon as possible. During the financial year 2003–04 other Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers made the following overseas visits:
	
		Dr. Denis MacShane MP, Minister of State
		
			 Date Destination Purpose of trip 
		
		
			 3 April 2003 Riga Joint bilateral visit to Latvia with French Europe Minister 
			 6–8 April 2003 Belgrade. Pristina. Skopje Bilateral visits to the Balkans 
			 14 April 2003 Luxembourg General Affairs and External Relations Council 
			 16–17 April 2003 Athens Informal European Council, Signature of the Accession Treaty and European Conference 
			 29 April 2003 The Hague Attend Conference on Chemical Weapons Convention 
			 5 May 2003 Brussels Bilateral 
			 10–12 May 2003 Valletta Bilateral 
			 15–16 May 2003 Berlin Konigswinter Conference 
			 19 May 2003 Brussels General Affairs and External Relations Council 
			 29–31 May 2003 Warsaw Bilateral 
			 6 June 2003 Madrid Bilateral 
			 19–21 June 2003 Porto Caras European Council and EU/Western Balkans Summit 
			 26 June 2003 Rome Bilateral 
			 30 June 2003 Amsterdam Apeldoorn Conference 
			 3–4 July 2003 Gibraltar Bilateral 
			 3–5 September 2003 Oslo and Helsinki Bilaterals 
			 14–15 September 2003 Kiev Bilateral 
			 19–21 September 2003 Pontignano Pontignano Conference 
			 21–22 September 2003 Paris and Strasbourg Bilaterals 
			 29 September 2003 Brussels General Affairs and External Relations Council 
			 7–11 October 2003 Bucharest. Sofia and Hydra Bucharest and Sofia: Bilaterals Hydra: Hydra Conference 
			 16–17 October 2003 Brussels European Council 
			 13–15 November 2003 Madrid and Berlin Madrid: Bilateral Berlin: BMW European Forum 
			 17–18 November 2003 Brussels General Affairs and External Relations Council 
			 1–4 December 2003 Maastricht and Naples OSCE Ministerial Council in The Netherlands and Euromed Conference in Italy 
			 8 December 2003 Brussels General Affairs and External Relations Council 
			 11–13 December 2003 Brussels European Council 
			 12–14 January 2004 Ankara. Istanbul and Izmir Bilateral 
			 20 January 2004 Paris Bilateral 
			 26 January 2004 Brussels General Affairs and External Relations Council 
			 30 January 2004 Berlin Bilateral 
			 6–8 February 2004 Madrid Bilateral 
			 10 February 2004 Vienna Bilateral 
			 17–19 February 2004 Amsterdam Bilateral 
			 23–24 February 2004 Berne Bilateral 
			 27–28 February 2004 Venice Aspen European Dialogue Conference 
			 3–4 March 2004 Stockholm Bilateral 
			 5 March 2004 Skopje Funeral of Macedonian President 
			 25–26 March 2004 Brussels Bilateral visit and to attend the European Council 
		
	
	
		Mike O'Brien MP, Minister of State
		
			 Date Destination Purpose of trip 
		
		
			 1 April 2003 NATO SHAPE, Belgium Meetings with UK Military Representation and SACEUR 
			 12–14 April 2003 Tehran, Damascus Bilaterals 
			 26–29 April 2003 Baghdad Central Iraq Conference 
			 19–21 May 2003 Algiers Bilateral 
			 22 May 2003 Paris Conference on Drug Routes 
			 2–5 June 2003 Jakarta Bilateral 
			 6 July 2003 Palermo Informal EU Trade Ministers Conference 
			 19–21 July 2003 Beijing Accompanying the Prime Minister and Trade Delegation on bilateral visit to China 
			 22–25 July 2003 Bali ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting 
			 8–16 September 2003 Cancun WTO Ministerial Conference 
			 16 October 2003 Berlin Bilateral 
			 21–24 October 2003 Kabul Bilateral 
			 2–4 November 2003 Washington Bilateral 
			 8–12 December 2003 Islamabad and Karachi Bilaterals 
			 4–8 January 2004 New Delhi and Hyderabad Bilaterals 
			 26 January 2004 Cannes Attend MIDEM (Music Industry event) 
			 10–12 February 2004 Casablanca and Rabat Bilaterals 
			 15–18 March 2004 Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi Bilaterals 
			 22–23 March 2004 Warsaw Bilateral 
		
	
	
		Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, Minister of State
		
			 Date Destination Purpose of trip 
		
		
			 30 April 2003 Paris OECD Trade Ministerial 
			 16 May 03 Washington Bilateral 
			 15–15 July 2003 Jordan Bilateral 
			 3 September 2003 Vienna Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Conference 
			 15–18 September 2003 Morocco and Tunisia Bilateral 
			 23–25 September 2003 New York United Nations General Assembly 
			 29 September to 1 October 2003 Israel Bilateral 
			 8–9 October 2003 Iraq Bilateral 
			 22–24 October 2003 Madrid Iraq Donors' Conference 
			 18–20 November 2003 Lebanon Bilateral 
			 1–2 December 2003 Istanbul Response to the terrorist attacks against the British Consulate General and HSBC Bank 
			 4 December 2003 Brussels NATO Foreign Ministerial 
			 8–9 December 2003 Syria Bilateral 
			 21–23 January 2004 Occupied Territories Bilateral 
			 23–26 February 2004 Bahrain and Qatar Bilateral 
			 9–11 March 2004 Jordan Bilateral 
			 19–19 March 2004 Iraq Bilateral 
		
	
	
		Baroness Amos of Asthal, the then ParliamentaryUnder-Secretary of State
		
			 Date Destination Purpose of trip 
		
		
			 1–6 April 2003 Botswana and South Africa Bilaterals 
			 14–17 April 2003 Mali G8 Meeting 
			 5–8 May 2003 Dominican Republic Bilateral 
		
	
	
		Chris Mullin MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
		
			 Date Destination Purpose of trip 
		
		
			 21–25 July 2003 Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone Bilaterals 
			 28 October to 5 November 2003 Kenya and South Africa Bilaterals 
			 2–8 December 03 Abuja Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting 
			 12–20 January 2004 Ethiopia. Djibouti and Eritrea Bilaterals 
			 3–6 February 2004 Washington and New York Liberia Donors' Conference 
			 23–24 February 2004 Paris Bilateral to discuss Africa 
		
	
	
		Bill Rammell MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
		
			 Date Destination Purpose of trip 
		
		
			 31 March to 1 April 2003 Washington Bilateral 
			 11–15 May 2003 Brazil and Colombia Fundacion Euroamerica Conference 
			 21 May 2003 Stockholm G8 Global Partnership on WMD—Signing MNEPR Treaty 
			 26–27 May 2003 Crete Euromed Conference 
			 12–13 June 2003 New York Conflict Prevention Conference, International Peace Academy 
			 18 June 2003 Madrid Bilateral 
			 22–27 July 2003 Kabul Bilateral 
			 6–21 August 2003 Papua New Guinea, Australia. New Zealand and Solomon Islands Bilateral and attendance at the Pacific Islands Forum (New Zealand) 
			 20–24 September 2003 New York United Nations General Assembly bilateral meetings 
			 9- 10 October 2003 Dublin Address to Trinity College 
			 16 October 2003 Rome EU Ministerial meeting 
			 26–31 October 2003 Mexico and Majorca Mexico: Bilaterals Majorca: Launch of the Travel Foundation for Sustainable Tourism 
			 14 November 2003 Washington Bilaterals on Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Counter-Narcotics and UN Reform 
			 29 November to 3 December 2003 Falkland Islands and Chile Falkland Islands: meetings Chile: Bilateral 
			 16–19 December 2003 Beijing and Hong Kong Beijing: Bilaterals and a speech at the Central Party School Hong Kong: Bilaterals 
			 13–18 January 2004 Guatemala and Belize Joint trip with Spanish Minister Cortes to Guatemala to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Berger. Bilaterals in Guatemala and Belize. 
			 25–26 January 2004 Stockholm Stockholm International Forum preventing Genocide: Threats and Responsibilities 
			 1–3 February 2004 Washington and New York Washington: Bilaterals New York: Bilaterals and a speech on the UN 
			 15–20 February 2004 Argentina and Uruguay Bilaterals 
			 2–5 March 2004 Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad Jamaica: Round table with CARICOM and Bilaterals Barbados and Trinidad: Bilaterals 
			 18 March 2004 Geneva UNCHR

President of Poland (Official Visit)

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many hon. Members other than Privy Councillors have been sent invitations to banquets, receptions and other official events organised or hosted by the (a) Royal Family and (b) Government for the forthcoming visit of the President of Poland; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: President Kwasniewski of Poland's State Visit will take place from 5 to 7 May. 106 Members of Parliament have been invited to hear President Kwasniewski's keynote speech at University College London on 5 May, 72 of whom are not Privy Councillors. 10 MPs have been invited to the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace, four of whom are not Privy Councillors and one MP who is not a Privy Councillor, has been invited to a reception for the Polish community at St. James's Palace the same night.
	Four MPs have been invited to a seminar on economic reform to be held at Lancaster House on 6 May, two of whom are not Privy Councillors. 10 MPs have received invitations to the dinner given by President Kwasniewski at the Dorchester Hotel that night, of whom three are not Privy Councillors. 48 MPs have received invitations to a lunch at the Guildhall in honour of President Kwasniewski on 7 May, 35 of whom are not Privy Councillors.

CABINET OFFICE

Panel for Regulatory Accountability

Brian Cotter: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office under what criteria a draft regulation will be referred to the Panel for Regulatory Accountability.

Douglas Alexander: As set out in the Budget documentation, any regulatory proposal likely to impose a major new burden on business will require clearance from the Panel for Regulatory Accountability, chaired by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, based on a thorough impact assessment of the proposal agreed by the Cabinet Office Regulatory Impact Unit.
	The criteria for defining major proposals will be based on that set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment guidance available at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/regulation and copies are available in the Library.

Panel for Regulatory Accountability

Brian Cotter: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make a statement on the (a) role, (b) function and (c) membership of the Panel for Regulatory Accountability.

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will set out the reformed functions of the Panel for Regulatory Accountability.

Douglas Alexander: The role of the Panel for Regulatory Accountability is to clear any regulatory proposal likely to impose a major new burden on business. The panel will consider all such proposals in the context of Departments' previous regulatory performance and the overall burden of regulation across key business sectors.
	Apart from chairmanship by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, the membership of the panel remains unchanged, and information on the existing Panel can be found on the Cabinet Office website at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk and in the Library.

Public Bodies

Edward Davey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he expects the next version of Public Bodies to be published.

Douglas Alexander: For 2004, the Cabinet Office are replacing the existing publication with a searchable database, accessible via the internet. Development and testing are continuing, but it is hoped the results will be available before the end of 2004.

Emergency Planning

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the civil contingencies grant for emergency planning to (a) North Yorkshire, (b) the City of York, (c) Hambleton district council and (d) Harrogate borough council was in each year since 2000.

Douglas Alexander: The Civil Defence Grant is paid as a contribution to the cost of civil protection at the local level. The level of funding available for counter terrorism and civil protection has substantially increased in recent years, including £330 million for counter terrorism work in the 2003 Budget.
	179 local authorities are eligible for the Civil Defence Grant. These are the authorities with a statutory duty for civil defence, namely county councils, metropolitan districts and London boroughs, unitary authorities, and Fire and Civil Defence Authorities. Shire districts, such as Hambleton and Harrogate, have no statutory duty for civil defence and therefore receive no direct funding from central Government. Shire counties carry out emergency planning on behalf of their districts and for this work they receive an additional amount included in their grant allocation, currently set at £12,000 per district.
	The allocations of Civil Defence Grant to the authorities of North Yorkshire county council and the City of York council since the financial year 2000–01 are set out in the table. The increase in 2001–02 was due to the suspension of the process of allocating funding by use of a formula. Following negotiations with the local Government Association, the Civil Defence (Grant) Act 2002 re-established a formula, which led to the stabilisation of grant levels in 2002–03.
	
		£
		
			  Financial year North Yorkshire Civil Defence Grant City of York Civil Defence Grant 
		
		
			 2000–01 161,369 50,525 
			 2001–02 268,150 79,815 
			 2002–03 244,137 71,834 
			 2003–04 244,523 72,220 
			 2004–05 244,523 72,220

Mr. Howell James

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the process which led to the appointment of Mr. Howell James as Permanent Secretary in charge of Government Communications, with particular reference to political involvement;
	(2)  by what means the post of Permanent Secretary, Government Communications, was advertised to (a) Civil Service candidates and (b) the general public;
	(3)  how many persons applied for the post of Permanent Secretary, Government Communications; how many were shortlisted; and how many were interviewed;
	(4)  if he will list the members of the panel who selected the Permanent Secretary, Government Communications.

Douglas Alexander: This post was openly advertised in early December, and the usual selection process for appointing Permanent Secretaries was followed and overseen by the First Civil Service Commissioner, Baroness Usha Prashar. The decision to advertise was taken with my agreement.
	The post was advertised on the Civil Service Recruitment Gateway website and circulated to members of the Senior Civil Service. An advertisement also appeared in the national press in December. Headhunters were also engaged to complement this process.
	Of the 86 people who applied, five were interviewed by the Panel.
	The Panel to select the Permanent Secretary, Government Communications was chaired by the First Civil Service Commissioner, Baroness Usha Prashar. Also on the panel were Sir Andrew Turnbull, Head of the Home Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, Sir Richard Mottram, Permanent Secretary of DWP, Bob Phillis, CE Guardian Media Group, and Sally Davis BT Global Products.
	As is normal practice, the appointment of Mr. Howell James was approved by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the Head of the Home Civil Service.

Recycled Paper

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list the Department's main suppliers of (a) copier paper, (b) stationery, (c) envelopes and (d) paper for reports, in each case stating (i) the name of each paper used and (ii) the (A) recycled and (B) post-consumer recycled content of each paper.

Douglas Alexander: Information on the Cabinet Office's main suppliers of copier paper, envelopes, stationery and paper for reports are shown in the table.
	
		Percentage
		
			   Supplier  Name ofpaper used  Recycled content Post consumer recycled content 
		
		
			 Copier paper Banner A4 Copier 100 100 
			   A4 Sterling No, but ECF wood free pulp(24) 
			   A4 Office No, but ECF wood free pulp(24) 
			   A4 Value No, but ECF wood free pulp(24) 
			   Various No No 
			  Evolve A4 Office 100 100 
			   A3 Office 100 100 
			  Xerox Premier No No 
			   Business No No 
			  Alpha A4 Copier No No 
			  Southern Paper Duo Office/Duo Copy No No 
			  
			 Stationery Redlin Print 100 gm bond 100 60–100 
			  Evolve 100 gsm 100 100 
			  Finesse Conquera White Wove No No 
			 Envelopes Banner Cartridge White No No 
			   OHMS 381x254 80–100 60–85 
			   OHMS 324x229 80–100 60–85 
			   OHMS 229x162 80–100 60–85 
			   OHMS 406x305 80–100 60–85 
			   OHMS 110x220 80–100 60–85 
			   Plain 324x229 80–100 60–85 
			   Plain 330x279 80–100 60–85 
			   Plain 110x220 80–100 60–85 
			   Plain 324x229 60 40 
			   Other various 80–100 60–85 
			  Keepsafe 280x385 No No 
			   330x462 No No 
			   460x377 No No 
			  Survivor Peel/Seal 324x229x3 No No 
			   Peal/Seal 394x305 No No 
			  Banner White Wove 100 80 
			   Jiffy Padded Bags No No 
			  Finesse Conquera White Wove No No 
			  
			 Reports Howard Smith Various 100 75 
			  Premier Various 100 75 
			  Robert Home Various 100 75 
			  Macnaughtons Various 100 75 
			  Banner Evolve 80gsm 100 80 
			   Revive Filk 75 40 
		
	
	(24) Elemental Chlorine Free pulp (ECF) is the process of bleaching the pulp without using harmful chlorine compounds.

Sustainable Development

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to promote the delivery of sustainable development within Government.

Douglas Alexander: Promoting the delivery of sustainable development within Government is the responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), but one for which all Departments have a role to play.
	The Cabinet Office is working closely with DEFRA to ensure that sustainable development is embedded into all of the Departments operations. For example, the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) template has recently been amended to incorporate DEFRA's Integrated Policy Assessment (IPA) tool. Departments must now identify not only economic costs and benefits but also any social and environmental costs and benefits for all major proposals.

DEFENCE

Cluster Bombs

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cluster bombs are stockpiled by the Ministry of Defence, broken down by type.

Adam Ingram: Stockholdings of cluster bombs are held at an authorised War Reserve stock figure. Details of the precise numbers of weapons could provide a potential adversary with information that could undermine our defence capabilities. This information is therefore withheld in accordance with Exemption 1 (Defence, Security and International Relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Cluster Bombs

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when current stockpiles of (a) BL-755 cluster bombs and (b) RBL-755 cluster bombs will become obsolete; what plans his Department has (i) to replace them and (ii) to destroy them; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: On current plans all stockpiles of the BL755 and the RBL755 cluster bomb will be withdrawn from RAF service before the end of the decade. The IBL755 will be withdrawn from service by the end of this year. Existing stocks of all three variants will be disposed of through recognised de-militarisation procedures.
	Based on current predictions these weapons will not be replaced. However, it is intended that the Brimstone advanced air-launched anti-armour weapon will replace the capability of the RBL755 in the anti-armour role.

Defence Personnel (Vale of York)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) role and (b) specialisation is of the Royal Naval personnel serving in the Vale of York.

Ivor Caplin: Royal Naval Personnel are employed at the Defence High Frequency Communications Service facility at Forest Moor. Their role is to provide specialist military oversight and guidance to the contractor who operates the site. Personnel are drawn from the Weapons Engineering and Operator Mechanic (Communications) specialisations.
	The RN also has a small number of personnel based at Linton-on-Ouse who are Qualified Flying Instructors, and a number of RN student pilots undertake training here on an annual basis.

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory's revenue has been derived from QinetiQ; and what proportion of its outgoings have been paid to QinetiQ since the creation of QinetiQ.

Adam Ingram: In 2001, the Defence Research and Evaluation Agency was split to form the PPP QinetiQ, and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
	Since vesting the income derived by Dstl from QinetiQ by financial year is as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Income (£ million) 
		
		
			 2001–02 17.75 
			 2002–03 18.50 
			 2003–04 12.55 
			 Total 48.80 
		
	
	Dstl expenditure with QinetiQ since vesting by financial year is as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Expenditure (£ million) 
		
		
			 2001–02 53.57 
			 2002–03 67.40 
			 2003–04 57.74 
			 Total 178.71

Departmental IT Infrastructure

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the advantages and disadvantages of privatising IT infrastructure in his Department;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of privatisation of IT infrastructure in his Department on national security.

Adam Ingram: These questions have been answered with respect to the Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) programme. The Ministry of Defence is currently in negotiations with two potential commercial Delivery Partners (DP) for the provision of information systems services for Ministry of Defence.
	It should be noted that the DII programme is not a privatisation of IT infrastructure. Under the terms of the Public-Private Partnership arrangement, the MOD will continue to own the infrastructure but the delivery of the service will be the responsibility of the commercial Delivery Partner.
	The DII programme is crucial to the delivery of the Defence Change Programme and has the potential to support delivery of significant benefits across Defence. The DII programme will enable Defence to realise a greatly increased capability at reduced cost. The three main benefits of DII are:
	the reduced cost of providing computing facilities due to the economy of scale;
	the ability to put in place pan defence corporate processes that improve the way Defence conducts its business on a day-to-day basis; and
	the ability to integrate more closely our battlefield systems with our support systems, leading to improved decision making and intelligence collection and analysis.
	No disadvantages to the implementation of the DII programme have been identified.
	The DII programme will not increase threats to national security. Deployed operations will continue to be supported by Service personnel. Increment One of the programme currently consists of 72,000 workstations. Only 10,000 of these are currently supported by in-house staff. The remainder are already supported by commercial service providers.
	As a key part of providing a Network Enabled Capability, DII will improve national security both on deployed operations and in the United Kingdom. As a pan-defence service, it will greatly improve the ability to exchange operational information within the MOD, between the three Services, and between fixed locations and deployed elements of the Services.

RAF Bases

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the investment appraisal of the proposed move of most of the activities of RAF Boulmer to RAF Scampton.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 28 April 2004
	A list of the principal options considered during the study into the future basing of the RAF's Air Combat Service Support Units and other minor units, including RAF Boulmer, has been made widely available during the course of the study. Defence officials have also given the right hon. Gentleman and other hon. Members a personal briefing. In addition, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and I have written to the right hon. Gentleman with information on the relative costs in investment appraisal terms, of maintaining Boulmer as now and moving units to RAF Scampton. Copies of these letters have been placed in the Library of the House.
	In my written ministerial statement of 23 April 2004, Official Report, column 30WS, I indicated the option I am inclined to accept. I will not make a decision on the outcome of the study until formal consultation with the Ministry of Defence Trade Unions is complete. While this process is continuing, I am withholding details of the Investment Appraisal in accordance with Exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which relates to internal discussion and advice. In the meantime, I am placing a list of the principal options considered in the Library of the House.

Parliamentary Questions

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to be able to write to the hon. Member for North Down with the information requested in her question ref.151328.

Adam Ingram: Further to my answer of 2 February 2004, Official Report, column 746W, the information requested is still not available due to serious computer failure. As it is proving impossible to retrieve information by this means within a reasonable timeframe, we are looking at other ways of providing the information requested. I would hope to be in a position to write to the hon. Member in the next few weeks.

Procurement

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which procurement decisions in each of the last five years have not been made solely on the basis of best value for money.

Adam Ingram: As I said in my reply of 3 November 2003, Official Report, column 427W, value for money is a fundamental factor in all our procurement decisions. In assessing value for money we take account of the long-term implications of decisions, including their industrial and wider economic impact. As set out in the Government's Defence Industrial Policy, we seek to maximise the economic benefit to the United Kingdom from our defence expenditure, a healthy and globally competitive defence industry and the development of a high value technologically-skilled industrial base, consistent with the Government's wider manufacturing strategy.
	Information on all procurement decisions taken throughout the Department is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Quick Reaction Alert Aircraft

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the role of Quick Reaction Alert aircraft is.

Adam Ingram: Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) comprises armed Tornado F3 aircraft held at ground readiness for immediate take-off, the Air Surveillance and Control System to provide warning and command and control of the fighter aircraft, and tanker aircraft also held at high ground readiness. QRA fulfils two concurrent functions. Firstly, it meets the United Kingdom's responsibility within NATO to provide air policing of agreed member airspace. Secondly, under UK national control, QRA provides an airborne contribution to countering threats against the UK by terrorist organisations or individuals.

Quick Reaction Alert Aircraft

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many aircraft are on Quick Reaction Alert status at (a) RAF Leeming, (b) RAF Leuchars and (c) RAF Coningsby.

Adam Ingram: To provide geographic coverage, there are two aircraft continuously on Quick Reaction Alert at RAF Leuchars and a further two at RAF Coningsby. Aircraft and personnel for the latter are provided from Tornado F3 squadrons deployed from RAF Leeming.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Court Closures (Luton)

Andrew Selous: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect on delays to court hearings of the current closure of courts in Luton.

Christopher Leslie: The Department for Constitutional Affairs has allocated £1.85 million of capital funding in order to carry out essential building maintenance and improvement work at Luton magistrates court. While work is being carried out to this courthouse it will be closed for six months starting from July 2004. No other courts will close. Neighbouring court accommodation will be used during this period at Luton Crown and county courts and Bedford county and magistrates court. Additionally, temporary accommodation is being provided at Dunstable courthouse.
	My Department's officials have worked with the Justice Chief Executive for Bedfordshire Magistrates' Courts Committee and no delays to court hearings are expected.

Emergency Protection Orders

Andrew Turner: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2004, Official Report, columns 852–53W, on emergency protection orders, how many applications were heard for emergency protection orders in each county in England in each year from 1997 to 2001, and what proportion was granted.

Christopher Leslie: Figures showing the number of applications for an emergency protection order and the number of orders made, by each county in England for the years 1997 to 2001, are provided in a table, which has been placed in the Library.

Operation Payback

Ben Chapman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what initial assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Operation Payback on the Wirral.

Christopher Leslie: Operation Payback was conducted in the Wirral on 23 March and was considered a success. Enforcement Officers, working closely with the Police, executed 194 outstanding warrants and collected £13,600 during the day. In the Merseyside area as a whole approximately £36,000 was collected during the three days that the Magistrates Courts Committee (MCC) ran the operation. The MCC also reported an increase in compliance in the payment of fines following the operation, although separate figures for cases directly involved in Operation Payback are not available.

Special Immigration Appeals Commission

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will place in the Library the transcripts of the judgments of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in cases relating to (a) detention under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 and (b) removal of nationality under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: A copy of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission's open judgments in cases relating to detention under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 will be placed in the House of Commons Library in the forthcoming weeks. The Commission have yet to hear a substantive Deprivation of Citizenship appeal under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 provisions.

Special Immigration Appeals Commission

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the costs have been of (a) administration and (b) the salaries and expenses of members of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (i) to date and (ii) on average in relation to (A) appeals against removal of nationality and (B) consideration of cases of detainees under the Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: As the Special Immigration Appeals Commission is administered jointly with other jurisdictions, separate records in respect of operational costs of its administration, and the salaries and expenses of its members, are not collated. To provide this information would incur-disproportionate costs.

Special Immigration Appeals Commission

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to his answer of 27 April 2004, Official Report, columns 896–97W, on Special Immigration Appeals Commission Hearings, if he will place in the Library transcripts from open sessions of the Commission (a) with sensitive appellants' details excised and (b) in cases where the appellant has either identified himself or agreed to his identity being revealed; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The transcripts from the sessions of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) are not divisible between the open and closed sessions and it would therefore be inappropriate to release them into the public domain due to the sensitivity of the material. The administrative processes of SIAC are reviewed on an ongoing basis and consideration is being given to the publication of material from the open sessions of SIAC.

Special Immigration Appeals Commission

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many appeals to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission against detention under anti-terrorism and removal of nationality legislation are outstanding; what dates have been set for each of those appeals; what the expected timetable is for each of those appeals (a) for open session hearings and (b) in total for each case; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: There are currently four appeals outstanding before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC); three of the appeals are against certification pursuant to Part 4 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, with the remaining appeal brought against an order of the Secretary of the State for the Home Department pursuant to s40A of the British Nationality Act 1981. A provisional timetable for the serving of evidence by both parties in each of the outstanding appeals has been issued by SIAC. For the three appeals pursuant to Part 4 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 the provisional timetables are as follows:
	Timetable of Appeal for I, Issued 9 January 2004, Date for Submission
	Rule 38 hearing to commence
	12 April 2004
	Provisional substantive hearing date
	8 June 2004
	Timetable of Appeal for S, Issued 9 January 2004, Date for Submission
	Rule 38 hearing to commence
	21 June 2004
	Provisional substantive hearing date
	12 July 2004
	Timetable of Appeal for K, Issued 9 January 2004, Date for Submission
	Rule 38 hearing to commence
	2 June 204
	Provisional substantive hearing date
	22 June 2004
	The timetable for the outstanding appeal brought against an order of the Secretary of the State for the Home Department pursuant to s40A of the British Nationality Act 1981 is as follows:
	Timetable of Appeal for Mostafa Kamel Mostafa aka Abu Hamza, Issued 26 April 2004, Date for Submission
	Amendments to the Appellant's Grounds of Appeal, whether by addition or deletion, to be notified to the respondent and the Commission
	30 July 2004
	Provisional substantive hearing date
	10 January 2005
	Agreement as to the mixture of open and closed sessions of the appeals will be decided on the first day of each relevant substantive appeal.

Special Immigration Appeals Commission

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many appeals have been heard by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission; and for how many (a) days and (b) hours in total the Commission has sat in open session in relation to appeals against detention under anti-terrorism legislation and removal of nationality.

David Lammy: To date there has been a combined total of fifteen substantive appeals heard before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC). Of the 15 substantive appeals, two were brought before SIAC pursuant to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997, with the remainder brought before SIAC pursuant to the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. Information relating to the amount of (a) days, and (b) hours SIAC has sat in open session is not available without incurring disproportionate costs.

PRIME MINISTER

Climate Change

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what account he took of Sir David King's views on the need to tackle climate change in deciding what time to set aside for his speech at the launch of the Climate Group on 27 April.

Tony Blair: Sir David King and I are in full agreement that climate change is one of the most serious environmental threats we face and that we need to address it now. I fully support the Climate Group's aim of promoting the acceleration of reductions in global emissions of greenhouse gases.

Climate Change

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what the cost to public funds was of the launch of the Climate Group on 27 April.

Tony Blair: The Climate Group is not a Government-funded entity. Funding for the event is a matter for the Climate Group.

Departmental Procurement (Sea Bass)

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to ensure that sea bass served at functions at which he is the host is sourced from hand-line fishermen rather than pair trawlers.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister for Fisheries, (Mr. Bradshaw) gave to him on 30 April 2004, Official Report, column 1344W.

EU Constitution

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Prime Minister if it remains the intention of the Government in the forthcoming Inter-Governmental Conference on the proposed EU constitution not to accept qualified majority voting on all matters of social security.

Tony Blair: Yes. Unanimity for social security for migrant workers is a Government red line.

EU Constitution

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list those policy areas where the Government have agreed that qualified majority voting should replace unanimity under the proposed EU Constitution.

Tony Blair: The Constitutional Treaty has not been agreed, but our approach to the extension of QMV will, as always, be to agree where it is in Britain's interests, but not to do so in areas where our national interests dictate otherwise. We welcome the use of QMV as the general rule for legislative proposals.
	Those areas for which we will insist that unanimity remains are set out in the White Paper—The British Approach to the European Union Intergovernmental Conference 2003.

EU Constitution

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Prime Minister if, consequent to his decision to hold a referendum on the proposed constitution of the European Union, he will publish a white paper in which in respect of each of the proposed articles he will state the part of any treaty already in force which contains the same or amended, content; and, for those articles which do not, if he will set out an explanation of the case for the new provisions and their likely effect on the United Kingdom and its judicial procedures.

Tony Blair: The Government will publish a range of material to accompany the Constitutional Treaty, including a laypersons' guide and a comprehensive analysis and comparison of the existing Treaties and the new Constitutional Treaty.

EU Constitution

Michael Howard: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his Statement on Europe, of 20 April 2004, Official Report, columns 155–57, whether it is his policy to describe the draft Constitution for Europe as a tidying-up exercise.

Tony Blair: The Government made clear their view of the draft constitutional treaty in their White Paper of September 2003—paragraphs 41 to 43. The draft treaty consolidates the existing treaties into a single logically ordered text; sets out a more transparent and accountable structure for the EU; makes it clear that the national Governments of the member states remain in control; and it provides for a more efficient European Union after enlargement.
	There are a number of changes that the Government wish to see to the draft text. If a treaty is successfully negotiated it will not alter the constitutional relationship between the Union and the member states, and would be less far reaching than changes brought into effect by either the Single European Act or the Maastricht treaty.

EU Constitution

Michael Howard: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his statement on Europe, of 20 April 2004, Official Report, columns 155–57, what factors he took into account in reaching his decision on whether to hold a referendum.

Tony Blair: The factors leading to the Government's decision to hold a referendum were set out in my statement of 20 April 2004, Official Report, columns 155–57.

EU Constitution

Michael Howard: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer, of 21 April 2004, Official Report, column 287, what discussions he held with ministerial colleagues prior to his decision to hold a referendum on the European constitution.

Tony Blair: I have nothing to add to my previous answer.

European Evidence Warrant

William Cash: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  if he will veto the legislative instrument proposing the European Evidence Warrant;
	(2)  if he will refuse to accept the European Constitution if at the next Summit on the European Constitution the European Evidence Warrant forms part of the corpus of the draft Constitution and laws of the EU.

Tony Blair: No. We shall seek to negotiate effective arrangements in the UK's interests.

European Evidence Warrant

William Cash: To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he has made of whether the European Evidence Warrant complies with the Human Rights Act 1998.

Tony Blair: Under Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union, all legislative instruments must respect fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. The Government would of course ensure that implementing legislation was compatible with the Human Rights Act.

House of Lords

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will bring forward proposals to ensure that political representation in the House of Lords from Northern Ireland reflects the community there.

Tony Blair: As I have made clear before, membership of the House of Lords is kept under ongoing review.

Kyoto Protocol

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister on what date he last raised the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change with President Bush.

Tony Blair: I regularly have discussions on a wide range of issues with President Bush including on climate change. As with previous Administrations, it is not the practice of this Government to make public details of discussions with foreign Governments under exemption l(b) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Libya

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Prime Minister if he will secure from Libya an inventory of the arms that it supplied to the IRA.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office (Mr. Pearson) gave to the hon. Member for South Antrim (David Burnside) on 26 April 2004, Official Report, column 822W.

Middle East

Michael Howard: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his statement on Iraq and the Middle East Peace Process, of 19 April 2004, Official Report, columns 21–23, 
	(1)  whether he urged President Bush that the Quartet should be involved in further decisions affecting the peace process rather than for such decisions to be decided bilaterally between the United States and Israel;
	(2)  what representations he made to President Bush before the President announced his endorsement of Prime Minister Sharon's plans.

Tony Blair: I regularly have discussions with President Bush on a wide range of issues, including the Middle East Peace Process. As with previous Administrations it is not the practice of this Government to make public all details of discussions with foreign Governments under exemption l(b) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
	I have made clear my view that the Quartet—which is meeting at Principals level in New York today—must lead the international community's efforts to take forward the Middle East Peace Process through the Roadmap. I hope that today's meeting will see the Quartet playing that role fully.

Morganatic Marriages

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Prime Minister whether he has recently held discussions on introducing legislation permitting members of the Royal Family to enter into morganatic marriages; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I have had no such discussions.

Official Visits

Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the overseas (a) cities and (b) countries which he has visited on official business in the first four months of 2004, broken down by date of visit.

Tony Blair: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. A list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 is currently being collated and will be published in the normal way before the summer recess.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Disability Living Allowance

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the average period was between a disability living allowance application form being received and it being considered by a decision maker in respect of applications (a) from Wales, (b) from England, (c) in Welsh and (d) in English in each of the last three years;
	(2)  what percentage of disability living allowance decision makers are able to work through the medium of Welsh;
	(3)  what the target period is for the time between the receipt of a disability living allowance application form and its consideration by a decision maker;
	(4)  what percentage of disability living allowance claims submitted in Welsh are considered using (a) the original Welsh versions and (b) a translation into English; and what criteria are employed in decisions as to whether claims submitted in Welsh are translated for consideration in English;
	(5)  what arrangements are in place for the translation into English of disability living allowance application forms completed in Welsh.

Maria Eagle: Information on the time taken for a disability living allowance claim to reach the decision maker following receipt in the Disability and Carers Service is not routinely collected.
	There are three Welsh speaking Decision Makers (DMs) and one Administrative Officer all based in Cardiff Disability Benefits Centre (DBC). The total number of Decision Makers in the Disability and Carers Service nationally is approximately 1,170.
	The clearance targets set by the Secretary of State, against which performance is judged, reflect overall clearance times, from claim registration to decision notification and no distinction is made between those claims received in the Welsh language and those in English. In the year ended March 2004 the national target performance on new claims cleared was an average of 39.7 days against a target of 42 days. On renewal claims the national performance achieved was an average of 28.2 days against a target of 32 days.
	Any disability living allowance claim completed in Welsh received in the Disability and Carers Service whether in Cardiff Disability Benefits Centre, which administers new claims for the whole of Wales, or elsewhere is initially translated into English by the Welsh speaking staff based in the Cardiff Disability Benefits Centre. It is then processed in exactly the same way as a claim completed in English. Cardiff translated 28 disability living allowance and 78 attendance allowance claim forms from Welsh into English in the year to March 2004.

Incapacity Benefit

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints have been received in the West Midlands about the tests for work applied to those on incapacity benefit.

Maria Eagle: The administration of incapacity benefit claims is carried out by Jobcentre Plus; the medical examinations are carried out by Atos Origin, which provides medical services on behalf of Jobcentre Plus.
	Information on the number of complaints made to Jobcentre Plus about incapacity benefit tests is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	For the period March 2003 to February 2004, Birmingham Medical Services, which covers the West Midlands, carried out 43,162 incapacity benefit related medical examinations; for the same period it received 114 complaints about these examinations. These complaints covered a range of issues including clinical findings, accommodation, and travelling expenses.

Incapacity Benefit

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance is issued to those (a) in receipt of incapacity benefit and (b) who have carer's responsibilities in respect of jobseeker's allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: General advice regarding all benefits is available to customers from Jobcentre Plus staff before a claim is made; advice regarding a customer's specific needs is given at new claim stage by the contact centre and by the customers personal and financial advisers.
	Leaflet SD4 "Caring for someone" and Leaflet SD1 "Sick or disabled" are available from Jobcentre Plus offices and give detailed information for customers wishing to claim incapacity benefit or who have caring responsibilities. Copies are available in the Library.
	No advice is given to people in receipt of incapacity benefit with regard to jobseeker's allowance specifically; however customers who are no longer eligible for incapacity benefit due to the results of a personal capability assessment, or because they are no longer ill may be advised to claim jobseeker's allowance if they are available for work.
	People who claim jobseeker's allowance and have caring responsibilities are allowed to restrict the hours they are available for work to less than 40 hours, providing they are available for as many hours as their caring responsibility allows, and that this is at least 16 hours a week.

Maternity Benefits

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether women who have been in paid employment throughout pregnancy who changed employer during this period will be eligible via (a) statutory maternity pay and (b) maternity allowance for 90 per cent. of average weekly earnings for the first six weeks of paid leave where they have not been employed by their current employer for 26 weeks;
	(2)  whether the benefits available through maternity allowance are equal to those made through statutory maternity pay for women who have been in paid employment during pregnancy; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will make statutory maternity pay available to women who change employer during pregnancy without taking a break; and if he will make a statement;

Maria Eagle: Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and Maternity Allowance (MA) are an integral part of the measures the Government has taken to help parents balance their work and family life.
	Both SMP and MA can be paid for up to 26 weeks. SMP is paid by the employer at 90 per cent. of the woman's average weekly earnings for the first six weeks followed by the lesser of £100 a week or the 90 per cent. rate; MA is paid by the Department for Work and Pensions at the lesser of £100 a week or 90 per cent. of the woman's average weekly earnings.
	To get SMP, a woman must earn at least £79 a week on average and have been continuously employed by her employer for at least 26 weeks into the 15th week before the week her baby is due. She must therefore have been working for the employer who would be liable to pay SMP to her before she became pregnant and would have worked for the employer for a reasonable period before that employer is asked to administer and meet some of the costs of paying SMP to her.
	To get MA, a woman must have been employed and/or self-employed for at least 26 weeks out of the 66 week period ending with the week prior to the week in which her baby is due. The weeks do not have to be continuous and a part week counts as a full week. She must also earn at least £30 a week on average.
	The standard rate of both SMP and MA was increased in 2003 to £100 a week. This substantial increase, the biggest since maternity pay was introduced in 1948, coupled with extending the payment period from 18 to 26 weeks mean that most pregnant working women getting SMP or MA are more than £1,200 better off than in 2001.
	We currently have no plans to make any further changes to these schemes.

Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost in each of the next 10 financial years from 2006–07, net of savings in means-tested benefits and additional income tax revenues, of paying from April 2006 a basic state pension to all single people aged 75 or above at the rate of the guarantee credit for single people regardless of contribution record, and a basic state pension to all couples where one or both partners is aged 75 or above at the rate of the guarantee credit for couples, with that pension being indexed to earnings in subsequent years, and assuming that the savings credit is abolished for those aged 75 or above.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. However such information as is available is in the table.
	
		£ billion
		
			  (25)Net cost 
		
		
			 2006–07 3.9 
			 2007–08 4.2 
			 2008–09 4.5 
			 2009–10 4.8 
			 2010–11 5.2 
			 2011–12 5.6 
			 2012–13 6.0 
			 2013–14 6.4 
			 2014–15 6.9 
			 2015–16 7.4 
		
	
	(25) Before tax
	Notes:
	1.   The net cost includes all savings except for additional Income tax revenue, (see note 3). Figures are for Great Britain in 2004–05 price terms, using the GDP deflator index, rounded to the nearest £100 million.
	2.   Basic State Pension costs are estimated by the Government Actuary's Department and are consistent with Budget 2004 assumptions and use 2002 based population projections. Basic State Pension costs refer to the additional costs after allowing for consequential changes to National Insurance Fund benefits and non-means tested vote benefits.
	3.   Additional income tax revenue is estimated by the Inland Revenue using current tax rates. The Income tax estimate for 2006–07 is based on the 2001–02 Survey of Personal Incomes and is projected in line with March 2004 Budget assumptions. The cost net of income tax revenue in 2006–07 is £2.6 billion. For illustrative purposes, we have assumed income tax revenue to be a fixed percentage of the gross cost for this option in 2007–08 and 2008–09. Therefore, the illustrative total net cost in 2007–08 is £2.6 billion and in 2008–09 is £3.1 billion. Estimates for later years would be subject to a greater degree of uncertainty.
	4.   The State Second Pension is assumed to be unchanged.
	5.   The savings credit is abolished for those aged 75 from April 2006 with no payments to existing pensioners and no new recipients after 2006.
	6.   The savings from savings credit and other income related benefits (guarantee credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit) are calculated using the Department's policy simulation model for 2006–07. It is assumed that the proportion of savings calculated for the first year is constant for subsequent years.

Winter Fuel Allowance

James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many senior citizens in Stalybridge and Hyde have benefited from the winter fuel allowance since 1997.

Malcolm Wicks: The number of senior citizens in the Stalybridge and Hyde constituency who have benefited from a winter fuel payment in each year since 1999–2000 (including provisional figures for 2003–04) is in the table. Information relating to the 1997–98 and 1998–99 winters is not available.
	
		
			  Payments made 
		
		
			 1999–2000 13,760 
			 2000–01 15,230 
			 2001–02 15,395 
			 2002–03 15,535 
			 2003–04 15,580 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.   Numbers are rounded to the nearest five.
	2.   Please note that the figures for 2003–04 refer only to the main payment run i.e. they do not include the late payment run figures. We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 people in Great Britain paid via late payment runs (0.8 per cent. of all payments). However, since late payment runs are mainly in respect of non-system cases whose claim had not been received by Qualifying Week, they are heavily skewed towards men aged 60.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. samples.

HEALTH

Norfolk and Norwich Hospital

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a statement on the PFI contract in respect of the Norfolk and Norwich hospital.

Stephen Ladyman: The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital PFI scheme was the fourth major PFI scheme to reach financial close and sign contracts. The Norfolk and Norwich is a high quality hospital and was recently named among the top 40 hospitals in the UK by an international company involved in measuring healthcare performance.

Hospital-acquired Infection

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a statement on MRSA in hospitals.

Melanie Johnson: We already have standards to ensure there is a managed environment which minimises the risk of infection to patients, staff and visitors. We are confident that implementation of our action plan "Winning Ways" will reduce infection rates for all healthcare associated infections including methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus.

NHS Dentistry

Harold Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to increase the number of NHS dentists in Leeds.

Melanie Johnson: Currently 145 dentists are treating NHS patients in the Leeds area. The overall number of dentists treating NHS patients in Leeds has remained similar for the 12 months to December 2003, the latest data that we have available. The primary care trusts in Leeds are currently preparing action plans to submit to West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority, which include plans to increase the numbers of dentists accepting NHS patients locally.

NHS Dentistry

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on NHS dental provision in south Devon.

Rosie Winterton: The whole of the South West Peninsula strategic health authority area has been identified as an "Options for Change" field site, and dentists are increasingly opting for the new ways of working that Personal Dental Services allows. Teignbridge PCX, along with others in the Peninsula, is currently working on a Dental Action Plan which is expected to be agreed later this month.

Health Inequality

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the public health reports from primary care trusts in areas suffering from health inequality.

Melanie Johnson: Strategic health authorities are responsible for agreeing local national health service plans informed by public health reports. SHAs are leading work on monitoring the performance of primary care trusts, and take a particular interest in areas experiencing health inequalities. We are in discussion with SHAs about ways of assessing the impact of these reports.

Elderly People (Abuse)

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on the abuse of elderly people.

Stephen Ladyman: Since 1997 the Government have been active in promoting better and more consistent standards of care for older people through the publication and implementation of the National Service Framework for Older People and National Minimum Standards of care for a range of services. Raising standards of care is the best way to minimise abuse and neglect. In addition the statutory guidance "No Secrets" provides a national framework for local councils and partner agencies to use in developing local multi-agency codes of practice to prevent and tackle abuse. Local codes of practice had to be in place by October 2001. Shortly, the Government will also implement the Protection of Vulnerable Adults scheme, which will act as a work force ban on those that have harmed vulnerable adults in their care.

Diabetes

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to assist the work of local diabetes self-help groups.

Rosie Winterton: The Department is funding Diabetes UK—the major charity for people with diabetes—to undertake a user involvement project to help people with diabetes become fully involved in local decision making about their diabetes services.

Health Services (West Yorkshire)

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received regarding improvements to children's and maternity health services in (a) Leeds and (b) West Yorkshire.

Melanie Johnson: The Department has received a number of representations in support of a dedicated children's and maternity hospital for West Yorkshire to be based in Leeds. I have agreed to meet my hon. Friend the Member for Batley and Spen (Mr. Wood) to discuss this issue.

Mental Health Bill

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he proposes to start the pre-legislative scrutiny stages of the draft Mental Health Bill.

Rosie Winterton: A revised and completed Mental Health Bill will be brought forward for pre-legislative scrutiny in this session.

Hepatitis C

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in making payments available through the ex-gratia payments scheme for patients infected with hepatitis C.

Melanie Johnson: Work is proceeding to finalise the arrangements necessary to begin making payments. The Skipton Fund was incorporated on 25 March. Officials are continuing to consult with patient groups and medical experts on the implementation of the scheme. The four UK health departments expect the Skipton Fund to be operational shortly.

Anti-depressants

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that SSRI anti-depressants carry a warning that they may make patients suicidal.

Rosie Winterton: The safety of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has been closely monitored by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Government's independent expert advisory committee, the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) since first authorisation.
	The CSM has considered the question of suicidal behaviour in association with adult use of SSRIs on a number of occasions and has advised that it is general clinical experience that patients taking any anti-depressant may develop an increase in suicidal behaviour in the first few weeks of treatment. Prescribers were informed of this advice in an article in the drug safety bulletin, "Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance", in 2000 and advised that patients thought to be at risk should be monitored carefully, especially in the early stages of treatment.
	Product information for patients for all SSRIs contains warnings that suicidal behaviour may increase in the early stages of treatment with any anti-depressant and that any patient who has suicidal thoughts should seek urgent medical attention.
	In December 2003, CSM advised that four SSRIs (paroxetine, sertraline, citalopram, escitalopram) and the related anti-depressant, venlafaxine, should not be used in treating children and adolescents under 18 years with depressive illness because clinical trials had not demonstrated efficacy in this population and there was evidence of an increased risk of adverse effects, including suicidal behaviour and self-harm compared to placebo. The product information (summary of product characteristics and patient information leaflets) for these SSRIs contains appropriate warnings.
	A Europe-wide review of the safety of paroxetine led by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands was completed on 22 April 2004. The European scientific advisory committee, the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal products (CPMP) recommended that paroxetine should not be used in children and adolescents and that there should be careful monitoring during paroxetine treatment of patients at risk of suicidal behaviour, including those with a history of suicidal behaviour and young adults. The CPMP recommendations are now subject to consideration by the European Commission.
	The CSM's expert working group on the safety of SSRIs is continuing to review the available evidence relating to the safety of all SSRIs, with particular reference to behavioural disorders, including, suicidality to ensure that the advice in the product information is optimal for safe use of these medicines.

Care Standards

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the future arrangements for the monitoring of care standards will include the use of lay visitors.

Stephen Ladyman: I understand from the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that the CSCI is considering a range of options to include service users and others in the range of its work. The use of lay assessors is one of these options.

Cataract Surgery

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were waiting for cataract surgery in each Greater London NHS Trust for more than (a) three, (b) six and (c) nine months in each year since 1997; and what the percentage change was in each year.

John Hutton: The information requested is not held centrally.

CFS/ME

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what funding has been allocated to Professor Simon Wesley's team at the Institute of Psychiatry for research into CFS/ME;
	(2)  what funding has been allocated to (a) the Merge Group in Perth, Scotland and (b) other biomedical researchers for work regarding CFS/ME.

Melanie Johnson: The main agency through which the Government support medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC is an independent body that receives its grant-in-aid from the Office of Science and Technology.
	The MRC does not normally allocate in advance for particular areas of research. Funds are awarded on the basis of specific research proposals judged in competition.
	The MRC has not provided funding for Professor Wessely's team or the Merge Group for research into chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). We do not hold records centrally for other funding bodies' allocations.
	The MRC announced funding in May 2003 for two trials: PACE—Pacing, Activity and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: a Randomised Evaluation, and FINE—Fatigue Intervention by Nurses Evaluation to look at the effectiveness of various treatments for CFS/ME. The MRC is also funding a £400,000 clinical trial: training general practitioners to manage patients with persistent medically unexplained symptoms.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to reply to the letter to him from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton dated 19 February with regard to Mrs. S. Wild.

John Reid: A reply was sent to my right hon. Friend on 5 April 2004.

Drugs (Self-Administration)

Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are attending NHS hospitals and clinics whose condition is a direct result of the self-administering of drugs, broken down by region.

Rosie Winterton: Data on the number of admissions to hospital which are drug related are shown in the table. The information is broken down by strategic health authority areas.
	
		Count of finished in-year admission episodes by strategic health authority (SHA) of treatment—NHS hospitals, England 2002–03
		
			 SHA of treatment Finished in-year admission episodes 
		
		
			 Q01 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire HA 3,198 
			 Q02 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire HA 915 
			 Q03 Essex HA 941 
			 Q04 North West London HA 821 
			 Q05 North Central London HA 947 
			 Q06 North East London HA 1,532 
			 Q07 South East London HA 1,153 
			 Q08 South West London HA 645 
			 Q09 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear HA 3,642 
			 Q10 County Durham and Tees Valley HA 3,259 
			 Q11 North and East Yorkshire and NorthernLincolnshire HA 3,130 
			 Q12 West Yorkshire HA 4,927 
			 Q13 Cumbria and Lancashire HA 3,765 
			 Q14 Greater Manchester HA 3,211 
			 Q15 Cheshire and Merseyside HA 3,987 
			 016 Thames Valley HA 2,331 
			 Q17 Hampshire and Isle of Wight HA 3,063 
			 Q18 Kent and Medway HA 1,288 
			 Q13 Surrey and Sussex HA 2,473 
			 Q20 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire HA 2,388 
			 Q21 South West Peninsula HA 2,446 
			 Q22 Dorset and Somerset HA 1,220 
			 Q23 South Yorkshire HA 2,029 
			 Q24 Trent HA 4,104 
			 Q25 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire andRutland HA 969 
			 Q26 Shropshire and Staffordshire HA 1,847 
			 Q27 Birmingham and the Black Country HA 4,642 
			 Q28 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire andWorcestershire HA 1,561 
			 England 66,434 
		
	
	The Department does not collect information on the number of patients who attend (but are not admitted to) national health service hospitals and clinics as a result of the self-administering of drugs.

Drugs (Self-Administration)

Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what current or past research conducted or funded on behalf of the NHS has examined the relationships between self administered drug use and patients' attendance at NHS hospitals and clinics.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has not commissioned research specifically on the relationships between self administered drug use and patients' attendance at national health service hospitals and clinics.

Elective Admissions (Crosby)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the levels of elective admissions to the NHS in Crosby in the past five years.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected on a constituency basis, but at national health service trust level. Data for NHS trusts is shown in the table.
	
		In year elective admission episodes for selected NHS Trusts, 1998–99 to 2002–03
		
			 NHS Trust 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 
		
		
			 Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust 30,363 31,063 32,959 32,437 33,401 
			 Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust 13,569 14,106 13,838 14,730 15,165 
			 The Cardiothoracic Centre—Liverpool NHS Trust 7,846 8,301 8,539 9,091 10,223 
			 Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery NHS Trust 3,841 4,184 3,893 3,710 4,123 
			 Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust (26) n/a 22,992 23,053 20,035 18,181 
			 Southport and Formby Hospitals NHS Trust (26) 13,867 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 West Lancashire NHS Trust (26) 8,564 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Total 78,050 80,646 82,282 80,003 81,093 
		
	
	(26) Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust was created on 1 April 1999 from Southport and Formby Hospitals NHS Trust and part of West Lancashire NHS Trust. The figure for West Lancashire NHS Trust in1998–99 is for the whole trust. It is not possible to identify the proportion of the figure attributable to Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust.
	(27) Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
	(28) An in-year admission is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider, excluding admissions beginning before 1 April at the start of the data year. Periods of care on-going at the end of the data year (unfinished admission episodes) are included. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health

Eye Tests

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many senior citizens in Heywood and Middleton have access to free eye tests;
	(2)  how many residents in Heywood and Middleton aged over 60 years have benefited from the abolition of charges for eye tests;
	(3)  how many residents in Stalybridge and Hyde over 60 have benefited from the aboliton of charges for eye tests.

Melanie Johnson: Data for the number of sight tests by constituency or by the number of senior citizens is not collected centrally.
	The total number of national health service sight tests paid for by the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority in 2002–03 for patients aged 60 and over was 189,900. The total number eligible for a free sight test for those aged 60 and over was 493,100. Sight tests cannot be equated to the numbers of patients.

General Practitioners

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) headcount and (b) whole-time equivalent general practitioners there were in each year between 1979 and 1997 inclusive.

John Hutton: The number of headcount and whole time equivalent general practitioners in each year between 1979 and 1997 is shown in the table.
	
		General Medical Practitioners (excluding retainers)(29) in England, 1979–1997England
		
			  Headcount Estimated whole-time equivalents(30) 
		
		
			 1979 23,062 n/a 
			 1980 23,674 n/a 
			 1981 24,359 n/a 
			 1982 24,835 n/a 
			 1983 25,341 n/a 
			 1984 25,788 n/a 
			 1985 26,190 n/a 
			 1986 26,529 n/a 
			 1987 27,023 n/a 
			 1988 27,420 n/a 
			 1988 27,420 n/a 
			 1989 27,749 n/a 
			 1990 27,523 26,982 
			 1991 27,888 27,135 
			 1992 28,185 27,299 
			 1993 28,460 27,387 
			 1994 28,735 27,495 
			 1995 28,869 27,489 
			 1996 29,116 27,549 
			 1997 29,389 27,660 
		
	
	n/a = Not available
	Notes:
	(29)   All Practitioners (excluding GP Retainers) includes GMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, GP Registrars, Salaried Doctors (Para 52 SFA) and PMS Other.
	(30)   Prior to 1990 all GPs were considered to be full-time
	WTE data has been estimated using the results from the 1992–93 G~MP Workload Survey;
	Full time = 1.00 wte; three quarter time = 0.69 wte; job share = 0.65 wte; half time = 0.60 wte.
	All data as at 1 October
	Source:
	Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics

GP Waiting Times (Battersea)

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of patients in the Battersea constituency were offered an appointment with a general practitioner within 48 hours in each year since September 2001.

John Hutton: Information on the percentage of patients in the Battersea constituency offered an appointment to see a general practitioner within 48 hours is not collected. Information is provided by Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Health Authority (September 2001 and March 2002) and Wandsworth Primary Care Trust, which was established on 1 April 2002, and includes patients from the Battersea area.
	
		Percentage
		
			 Organisation September 2001 March 2002 March 2003 February 2004 
		
		
			 Wandsworth PCT   85.0 100.0 
			 Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth HA (31)82.5 (31)78.4   
			 England (31)80.1 (31)74.6 88.2 97.0 
		
	
	(31) Data collected between September 2001 and March 2002 are based on percentage practices not patients and are not strictly comparable but are included here for completeness.

Health Ombudsman

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2004, Official Report, column 703W, on the Health Ombudsman's Report (Long-term Care), how many cases have been reviewed so far; how many wrong assessments have been discovered; and what action (a) has been and (b) is to be taken to rectify the wrong assessment cases.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department expects information on the number of reviews completed and the number of cases granted recompense to be available in due course. Restitution payments are offered when the review suggests that national health service care was inappropriately denied.

Health Services (Birkenhead)

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the levels of elective admissions to the NHS in Birkenhead in the past five years.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Provider of treatment—Wirral Hospitals NHS Trust—count of finished elective (waiting list, planned and booked) admission episodes NHS hospitals, 1998–99 to 2002–03
		
			  Finished admission episodes 
		
		
			 1998–99 36,667 
			 1999–2000 29,759 
			 2000–01 32,018 
			 2001–02 33,351 
			 2002–03 29,664 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.   A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	2.   Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (ie the data are ungrossed).
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Heart Disease (Batley and Spen)

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the impact of the Government's campaign to reduce heart disease in Batley and Spen.

Melanie Johnson: The coronary heart disease (CHD) national service framework (NSF) was published in March 2000 and sets national standards for the prevention and treatment of CHD. In the West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority area, which includes Batley and Spen, around 25,900 people have quit smoking for at least four weeks with the help of local smoking cessation services since the publication of the NSF. In December 2002, 16 people were waiting over nine months for heart surgery. Today no-one is waiting over nine months. The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals National Health Service Trust will benefit from two new catheterisation laboratories at Pinderfields General Hospital and Dewsbury and District General Hospital.

Hospital Episode Statistics

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS finished consultant episodes were recorded by hospital episode statistics in England in each year since 1979.

John Hutton: The Department holds finished consultant episode statistics recorded by hospital episode statistics for financial years back to 1989–90. For years prior to 1989–90, there is no comparable data collected centrally. The information available is shown in the table.
	
		Hospital Episode Statistics, finished consultant episodes (FCEs)(32) NHS hospitals in England, 1989–90 to 2002–03
		
			 Financial year Finished consultant episodes 
		
		
			 1989–90 10,321,556 
			 1990–91 10,228,485 
			 1991–92 9,919,020 
			 1992–93 10,364,186 
			 1993–94 10,597,979 
			 1994–95 11,373,067 
			 1995–96 11,041,554 
			 1996–97 11,098,998 
			 1997–98 11,601,203 
			 1998–99 12,108,141 
			 1999–2000 12,290,278 
			 2000–01 12,476,470 
			 2001–02 12,338,590 
			 2002–03 12,756,260 
		
	
	(32) A FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year. The figures in the table include both in-patient and day cases.
	Note:
	Figures are grossed for coverage, except for 2001–02 and 2002–03, which are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Infection Control Nurses Review

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the review of community infection control nurses announced in 2002.

John Hutton: Copies of "Informing the Future—A Review of the Role and Responsibilities of Community Infection Control Nurses and Communicable Disease Control Nurses in England", produced by Thames Valley University, have been placed in the Library.

Integrated Falls Strategy

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to facilitate greater use of pacemakers as part of an integrated falls strategy.

Stephen Ladyman: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently consulting on the second draft of its clinical practice guideline for the assessment and prevention of falls in older people. The consultation runs to 18 May 2004 and final guidance is due to be published in September 2004. More information can be found on the NICE website at http://www.nice.org.uk/cat.asp?c = 20116. The guideline will include recommendations on the use of pacemakers, where they are relevant to the assessment and prevention of falls in older people.

Intensive Care Beds

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many intensive care beds there were in each Greater London NHS Trust in each year since 1997.

John Hutton: Available adult intensive care and high dependency provision data has been published since March 1999 and the most recent data available is for January 2004. Copies of the publications are available in the Library. Data from July 2001 to the most recent available is also on the Department's website at http://www.performance.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/index.htm.

Mental Health Provision

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) consultant psychiatrists, (b) mental health nurses and (c) primary care mental health workers (i) were recruited by and (ii) left the NHS in each of the previous five years in each Greater London NHS Trust.

John Hutton: The information requested is not held centrally.

Musculoskeletal Disease

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people are suffering from musculoskeletal disease; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much money was spent by the NHS on the management and treatment of musculoskeletal disease in the last year for which figures are available;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of equality of access to treatment and services for musculoskeletal disease; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: Three of the most commonly occurring musculoskeletal conditions are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis. Arthritis Care estimates that between 8 and 10 million people in the United Kingdom suffer from the condition.
	Information on how much was spent by the national health service on the management and treatment of musculoskeletal disease specifically is not collected centrally. Primary care trusts (PCTs) receive allocations to cover the costs of all hospital and community health services to meet the needs of the population they serve. The level of funding made available for the drugs, staffing and other costs of managing and treating musculoskeletal conditions is determined locally. It is for PCTs, in partnership with other local stakeholders, to determine how best to use their funds to provide health services for their populations, including those with musculoskeletal conditions.
	Following reviews by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), the Department has made two new classes of drugs, Cox II inhibitors and anti-TNF therapy available to patients with these conditions.
	The Department is driving forward a major programme of work to improve equality of access to all NHS treatment and care services. Maximum waiting times have fallen over the past few years and will continue to do so. By the end of 2005, the maximum waiting time for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant will fall to three months and the maximum wait for in-patient treatment will fall to six months. This will help all NHS patients, including those with musculoskeletal conditions.

NHS Budget

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what budget has been made available for 2004–05 to NHS Accident and Emergency departments for (a) art, (b) plants and (c) music;
	(2)  what budget is available to ward managers for the management of their wards;
	(3)  whether ward managers receive a direct financial allocation for their ward budget.

John Hutton: Decisions on allocation of budgets are taken at local level by individual trusts.

Patient Information

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are being taken to set aside funds to empower patients via (a) improved information access and (b) further development of the expert patient scheme.

Rosie Winterton: The Department's "Improving Patient Experience" programme established the "Informed Patient" project, a three-year programme of work (2003–06) managed by NHS Direct Online. The project will improve the quality, range and accessibility of patient information; thereby empowering people to make informed decisions about their healthcare. Funding for this work amounts to £1,814,000 in 2003–04 and £2,127,000 for 2004–05. Funding for the third year will be agreed in early 2005.
	Following the publication of the strategy document in September 2001, "The Expert Patient: A new approach to chronic disease management for the 21st century", the Department has funded and supported a community based pilot, from April 2002 to 2004 for each primary care trust (PCT) to provide training for people in the self management of long term conditions. Nearly all 300 PCTs in England have piloted the "Expert Patients" programme and data at the end of the pilot in April 2004 showed that almost 10,000 people had taken part. Funding has been allocated by the Department to support the mainstreaming of the programme across the national health service from 2004 to 2007.

Prescriptions

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions were issued in each year since 1997; and how many of them were dispensed.

Rosie Winterton: Information is available on prescriptions that are dispensed in the community in England. However there is no information available centrally on prescriptions that are issued but not dispensed.
	The table shows the number of prescription items dispensed in the community from 1997. The information does not include prescriptions dispensed in hospitals or private prescriptions.
	Further information on prescriptions dispensed in the community is available on the Department's website at http://www.publications.doh.gov.uk/prescriptionstatistics/index.htm.
	
		Number of prescription items dispensed in the community in England
		
			  Number (million) 
		
		
			 1997 500.2 
			 1998 513.2 
			 1999 529.8 
			 2000 551.8 
			 2001 587.0 
			 2002 617.0 
			 2003 649.7

Thimerosal

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the link between Thimerosal in vaccines and autism.

Melanie Johnson: As with all medicinal products, vaccine safety is continually monitored by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and its independent expert advisory body, the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM).
	The only vaccines currently used in the routine childhood immunisation programme that contain thiomersal (also known as thimerosal) are the combined diphtheria/tetanus/wholecell pertussis/Haemophilus influenzae type B and the diphtheria/tetanus vaccines. Measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine does not contain thiomersal.
	The MHRA and CSM have thoroughly reviewed the safety of thiomersal-containing vaccines, including alleged links with autism, on a number of occasions. In 2001, CSM conducted a major review of the available evidence and has considered new data as it has emerged. Following a review of further studies in 2003, including two United Kingdom studies involving more than 100,000 children, CSM advice was placed on the MHRA website at http://medicines.mhra.gov.uk. Further studies from Denmark involving almost half a million children have also specifically investigated the suggested link between thiomersal-containing vaccines and autism. None of these studies found any evidence of a causal association.
	On the basis of the available data, the advice of CSM remains that there is no evidence of harm from thiomersal contained in vaccines, with the exception of possible hypersensitivity reactions (typically skin rashes or local swelling at the site of injection). The CSM advises that the benefits of immunisation with such vaccines outweigh any potential risks of vaccination. This view concurs with that of the World Health Organisation.

TREASURY

Economic Inactivity

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many economically inactive adults of working age there are, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) reasons for economic inactivity.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. David Willetts, dated 4 May 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about economic inactivity. I am replying in his absence. (168143)
	I have arranged for the information requested to be placed in the House of Commons Library.
	The data provided gives the estimates of the number of economically inactive people and the reasons for their inactivity for each Local Authority. The figures are the averages for the twelve months ending February 2004, the latest period for which information is available.
	However, please note that a large number of local area estimates are not given because the sample sizes are too small to provide reliable estimates.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability.

Employment Statistics (Preston)

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the level of unemployment was in each year since 1997 in Preston;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the levels of long-term (a) adult and (b) youth employment in Preston over the last seven years.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Mark Hendrick, dated 4 May 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about unemployment. (169665, 169673)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions. However, the LFS sample size is too small to give reliable estimates of unemployment in the Preston Parliamentary Constituency.
	ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas including parliamentary constituencies.
	The attached table gives the annual average number of people claiming JSA for over 12 months, and the annual average number of these claimants aged 18 to 24 years, in the Preston constituency, for each year since 1997. The table also shows the annual average total number of JSA claimants in the constituency for these years.
	
		Annual average number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), and number claiming for at least twelve months(33)
		
			   Claimants for at least twelve months 
			 Preston parliamentary constituency, 1997–2003 All claimants All ages Aged 18–24 
		
		
			 1997 3,364 917 135 
			 1998 2,826 478 67 
			 1999 2,632 536 23 
			 2000 2,375 475 8 
			 2001 2,118 391 6 
			 2002 2,056 315 8 
			 2003 1,894 262 10 
		
	
	(33) Computerised claims only.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

Employment Statistics (Preston)

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the (a) change and (b) percentage change was in full-time permanent jobs in Preston from 1997 to 31 December 2003;
	(2)  how many new jobs have been created in Preston since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Mark Hendrick, dated 4 May 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about full-time jobs and jobs created in Preston. I am replying in his absence. (169675,169676)
	While statistics of new jobs created are not available explicitly, statistics from surveys enable comparisons to be made of net changes, in numbers of jobs, from year to year.
	The attached table shows the information requested, relating to all jobs and full-time jobs in Preston for 1997 and 2002, which is the latest year available.
	Information is not available about whether the jobs were permanent.
	
		Number of full-time employees and total number of employees(34) in Preston parliamentary constituency: 1997 and 2002 -- Number, per cent
		
			  Full-Time Total 
		
		
			 Number of employees   
			 1997 52,800 71,600 
			 2002 60,200 83,600 
			 Change from 1997 to 2002   
			 Absolute 7,300 12,000 
			 Percentage 13.9 16.8 
		
	
	(34) Employee jobs only, not self-employed jobs.
	Source:
	1997; Annual Employment Survey, rescaled 2002; Annual Business Inquiry (ABI).

Employment Statistics (Preston)

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were employed in tourism-related jobs in Preston on the latest date for which figures are available.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Mark Hendrick, dated 4 May 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about tourism-related jobs in Preston. (169677)
	The latest available data, from the 2002 Annual Business Inquiry, shows that the total number of jobs in tourism related industries in Preston was 5,500. This total is obtained by combining figures for those working in the following industries, as identified by Standard Industrial Classification 2003:
	hotels
	restaurants
	bars
	activities of travel agencies
	library, archives museums etc
	sporting activities
	other recreational activities.

Employment Statistics (Preston)

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many job vacancies there were in Preston in (a) 1997 and (b) 2003.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Mark Hendrick, dated 4 May 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about job vacancies in Preston. I am replying in his absence. (169682)
	According to Jobcentre Plus administrative records the number of unfilled vacancies in the Preston travel-to-work area was 2558 on average during 1997. This represents only a proportion of all the vacancies available, as not all vacancies are notified to Jobcentres.
	Jobcentre vacancy statistics were withdrawn from National Statistics in September 2001 as a result of distortions to the data, which occurred following the introduction of new administrative procedures by Jobcentre Plus. Comparable figures for vacancies in 2003 are therefore unavailable.
	Results from the ONS Vacancy Survey were released as National Statistics from July 2003, but are not available for local areas.

Employment Statistics (Wigan)

Neil Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many job vacancies there were in Wigan in (a) 1997 and (b) 2003.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Neil Turner, dated 4 May 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about job vacancies in Wigan. I am replying in his absence. (169354)
	According to Jobcentre Plus administrative records the number of unfilled vacancies in the Wigan travel-to-work area was 1,843 on average during 1997. This represents only a proportion of all the vacancies available, as not all vacancies are notified to Jobcentres.
	Jobcentre vacancy statistics were withdrawn from National Statistics in September 2001 as a result of distortions to the data, which occurred following the introduction of new administrative procedures by Jobcentre Plus. Comparable figures for vacancies in 2003 are therefore unavailable.
	Results from the ONS Vacancy Survey were released as National Statistics from July 2003, but are not available for local areas.

Employment Statistics (Wigan)

Neil Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the level of unemployment was in each year since 1997 in Wigan;
	(2)  what the levels of long-term (a) adult and (b) youth employment in Wigan were in each of the last seven years.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Neil Turner, dated 4 May 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about unemployment. (169358, 169309)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions. However, the LFS sample size is too small to give reliable estimates of unemployment in the Wigan Parliamentary Constituency.
	ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas including parliamentary constituencies.
	The attached table gives the annual average number of people claiming JSA for over 12 months, and the annual average number of these claimants aged 18 to 24 years, in the Wigan constituency, for each year since 1997. The table also shows the annual average total number of JSA claimants in the constituency for these years.
	
		Annual average number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), and number claiming for at least 12 months
		
			   Claimants for at least twelve months(35) 
			 Wigan parliamentary constituency, 1997–2003 All claimants All ages Aged 18–24 
		
		
			 1997 2,516 871 137 
			 1998 2,029 339 46 
			 1999 1,825 317 10 
			 2000 1,629 252 (36)— 
			 2001 1,444 232 (36)— 
			 2002 1,325 191 8 
			 2003 1,331 189 10 
		
	
	(35) Computerised claims only.
	(36) Value between 1 and 5, not shown to prevent disclosure.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics.

Employment Statistics (Wigan)

Neil Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what (a) change and (b) percentage change there has been in full-time permanent jobs in Wigan from 1997 to 31 December 2003;
	(2)  how many new jobs have been created in Wigan since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Neil Turner, dated 4 May 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about full-time jobs and jobs created in Wigan. I am replying in his absence. (169359, 169360)
	While statistics of new jobs created are not available explicitly, statistics from surveys enable comparisons to be made of net changes, in numbers of jobs, from year to year.
	The following table shows the information requested relating to all jobs and full-time jobs in Wigan for 1997 and 2002, which is the latest year available.
	Information is not available about whether the jobs were permanent.
	
		Number of full-time employees and total number of employees(37) in Wigan parliamentary constituency: 1997 and 2002 -- Number, per cent
		
			  Full-Time Total 
		
		
			 Number of employees   
			 1997 24,000 35,000 
			 2002 24,200 36,400 
			 Change from 1997 to 2002   
			 Absolute 200 1,400 
			 Percentage 0.9 4.0 
		
	
	(37) Employee jobs only, not self-employed jobs.
	Source:
	1997; Annual Employment Survey, rescaled 2002; Annual Business Inquiry (ABI).

National Minimum Wage

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many workers in Preston have benefited from the national minimum wage.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Mark Hendrick, dated 4 May 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the number of workers in Preston who have benefited from the national minimum wage (NMW). (169664)
	This information is not available at local authority level.
	However, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) calculates   estimates of the number of jobs paid less than NMW rates for the United Kingdom and Government Office Regions. A guide to measuring low pay and associated articles and data can be found on the National Statistics   website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5837&Pos=1&ColRank=1&Rank=272

Budget Implications (Hull)

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the effect that Budget 2004 will have on the Hull, North constituency.

Ruth Kelly: The Government has the long-term economic goal of maintaining macro-economic stability. Budget 2004 showed that all parts of the UK are set to benefit from the domestic stability delivered by the Government's macro-economic framework, with inflation forecast to remain low and close to target and the Government on track to meet its strict fiscal rules over the economic cycle.
	Kingston upon Hull North has clearly already benefited significantly from Government policies to build a strong economy and a fair society. For example, since 1997 claimant count unemployment has fallen by over a third, long-term unemployment has fallen by over three quarters and long-term youth unemployment has fallen by almost 70 per cent.
	The Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at Parliamentary Constituency level, taken from the 2001 Census and other sources. This service is freely available via the National Statistics website at www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk

Capital Gains Tax

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the disposal of entitlement under the introduction of single farm payments will be subject to capital gains tax.

Ruth Kelly: Implementation and administration of the single farm payment scheme is the responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in England, and the devolved administrations. Under general taxation principles, the tax treatment of any single farm payment to which an individual is entitled will depend upon the precise nature of the payment. However, from the information currently available, the Inland Revenue considers that the disposal of an entitlement to receive a single farm payment will normally be the disposal of a chargeable asset for capital gains tax purposes, and that the extinguishing of an entitlement to receive agricultural subsidies will also be a disposal for capital gains tax purposes.

Computer Equipment

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses in Preston have benefited from the 100 per cent. tax exemption for the purchase of computer and internet equipment.

Neil Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses in Wigan have benefited from the 100 per cent. tax exemption for the purchase of computer and internet equipment.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested is not available.

Customs Point, Coquelles

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent in each of the last three years on the manned customs point that is staffed by the UK at Coquelles in France.

John Healey: The Law Enforcement arm of HM Customs and Excise is a flexible and intelligence-led organisation which regularly reviews its resource deployments against their latest assessment of risks. Information about the deployment of Customs staff at specific locations is not available; exemption 4(b) (Law enforcement and legal proceedings) of the Open Government Code applies.

Economic Growth

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the British economy grew on average per annum (a) in total and (b) per capita in the period (i) 1992 to 1997 and (ii) 1997 to 2003.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. David Willetts, dated 4 May 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how much the British economy grew on average per annum (a) in total and (b) per capita in the period (i) 1992 to 1997 and (ii) 1997 to 2003. I am replying in his absence. (170100)
	The UK economy grew by an average of 3.1% per annum between 1992 and 1997 and by an average of 2.6% per annum between 1997 and 2003.
	On a per capita basis the UK economy grew by an average of 2.9% per annum between 1992 and 1997 and by an average of 2.3% per annum between 1997 and 2003.

Environmental Campaigns

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much funding he has allocated to Government departments to promote environmental campaigns in each of the last 10 years.

John Healey: Departmental Expenditure Limits are set through the bi-annual spending review process. Within these limits Government Departments are responsible for allocating funding to their full range of activities, including environmental campaigns where appropriate.

Housing (First-time Buyers)

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to introduce additional fiscal measures to help first time buyers purchase their homes; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Government keep all taxes under review and announcements of fiscal measures are a matter for the pre-Budget report and Budget.
	The Government are committed to addressing the instability and major problems of housing affordability that has characterised the housing market over past decades. The Government have announced they intend to implement a programme of change to the planning system and to the delivery of development so as to improve affordability and lock in macroeconomic stability, as recommended in the Barker Review of Housing Supply, a copy of which can be found in the Library of the House.

Influenza

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died of influenza-related illnesses in each of the last 20 years.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Willetts, dated 4 May 2004
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people died of influenza-related illnesses in each of the last 20 years (169326).
	The latest year for which data are available is 2002. The number of deaths certified as due to influenza 1 are given in the table below, for the calendar years 1983 to 2002. Previous analysisa,b has shown that deaths certified as due to influenza under-estimate the increase in mortality associated with influenza outbreaks and epidemics.
	
		
			 Calendar year Number of deaths 
		
		
			 1983 796 
			 1984 346 
			 1985 662 
			 1986 587 
			 1987 190 
			 1988 285 
			 1989 2,114 
			 1990 791 
			 1991 248 
			 1992 262 
			 1993 439 
			 1994 62 
			 1995 251 
			 1996 179 
			 1997 347 
			 1998 129 
			 1999 585 
			 2000 509 
			 2001 38 
			 2002 38 
		
	
	(38) The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 487 for the years 1983 to 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes J10-J11 for 2001 and 2002.
	a Curwen M, Dunnell K, Ashley J. Hidden influenza deaths: 1989–90. Population Trends 61 (1990), 31–33.
	b Ashley J, Smith T, Dunnell K. Deaths in Great Britain associated with the influenza epidemic of 1989–90.
	'Population Trends' 65 (1991), 16–20.

Office for National Statistics

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons the proposed move of the Office for National Statistics office in Titchfield to Southampton, considered in submissions for the 2002 Comprehensive Spending Review, was not implemented.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Peter Walton to Mr. Mark Hoban, dated 4 May 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking for what reasons the proposed move of the Office for National Statistics office in Titchfield to Southampton, considered in submissions for the 2002 Comprehensive Spending Review, was not implemented. I am replying in his absence. (164753)
	This proposal to relocate from Titchfield was not implemented because the ONS statistical modernisation programme was given highest priority for the available resources at the time of this Spending Review.

Public Liability Insurance

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average cost of public liability insurance was in each year since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury does not collect regular information on average UK public liability insurance premium costs.

Retail Prices Index

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of applying hedonics methodology to the Retail Prices Index; what plans he has to make further such adjustments; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. David Willetts, dated 4 May 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the effect of applying hedonics methodology to the retail prices index and what plans there are to make further such adjustments. I am replying in his absence. (170101)
	Technical issues such as hedonic methodology fall within the remit of the National Statistician. Our estimate is that the change to hedonic methods has had a minimal effect on the Retail Prices Index (RPI) with less than a 0.05 percentage point reduction on the annual rate of change.
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has examined the possible use of hedonic methods for a number of items in the RPI, but has made the decision to implement the method only in those cases where it represents a significant improvement in methodology. This was the case for personal computers and digital cameras, where hedonic methodology has been implemented. However, for other goods, such as televisions, DVD players, still cameras and washing machines, the method has not shown conclusively to be an improvement and so has not been implemented.
	In the future, ONS will continue to examine the use of hedonic methods on a case by case basis and intend to investigate their use for laptop computers and digital camcorders. We are not planning a blanket implementation of hedonic methods, but intend to use them only where they are proven to give a real improvement in methodology. This is likely to be mainly for high technology, fast-developing goods newly entering the RPI basket. Such goods are the most common subjects of hedonic methods in the consumer price indices of other developed countries.
	Further details can be found in Adrian Ball's article 'The Introduction of Hedonic Regression Techniques for the quality adjustment of computing equipment in the Producer Prices Index (PPI) and Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)', Economic Trends, vol No. 592, or by accessing the National Statistics website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/article.asp?ID=290&Pos=&ColRank=2&Rank=208

School Finance

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement setting out the total cash sums available to individual schools by way of direct per pupil payments following the Budget statement; and what the equivalent figures were for the previous years.

Ruth Kelly: In his Budget statement, the Chancellor set out a £7.4 billion increase in Education spending in England by 2007–08. This amounts to an average spend per pupil of at least £5,500, a figure £1,000 higher than in 2003–04. As part of the statement, he illustrated the scale of payments that are made directly to heads to increase their flexibility on budget decisions. He said that in 2005–06 heads would receive direct payments that sum to £55,000 for a typical primary and £180,000 for a typical secondary school. For 2003–04 the comparable figures were £50,000 and £165,000. Individual schools will receive different amounts according to their pupil numbers.

Sealskin

Mike Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much trade has been recorded by HM Customs and Excise in (a) whitecoat sealskin, (b) blueback sealskin and (c) sealskin apparel in each year since 1998.

John Healey: Figures on imports and exports of sealskin and sealskin apparel are published under commodity codes 43017010, 43021941 and 43031010 in 'Overseas Trade Statistics' published by HM Customs and Excise, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. However, figures for whitecoat and blueback sealskins are not separately identified.

Senior Citizens (Wigan)

Neil Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many senior citizens in Wigan qualified for the 10 pence rate of income tax in each year since its introduction.

Ruth Kelly: All income taxpayers benefit from the 10 pence starting rate. The Survey of Personal Incomes estimates there are about 8,000 state retirement pension age taxpayers in the Wigan constituency in 2001–02. A reliable answer cannot be given for 2000–01 because in the Survey of Personal Incomes the sample size of pensioners living in this constituency is relatively small compared to other constituencies. Figures for 1999–2000 are currently not available.

Tax Allowances

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the effect of a 0.05 per cent. reduction in the rate of inflation would be on (a) total spending on social security benefit, (b) total spending on interest payments on Government debt and (c) tax revenues if tax allowances were to be raised in line with inflation.

Ruth Kelly: The inflation indices used to uprate social security benefits, tax allowances and debt interest payments are rounded to one decimal place prior to publication, and the impact of such a small reduction in inflation would depend on its effect on the recorded inflation index rounded to this level. Moreover, for social security benefits and some tax allowances the actual benefit and allowance levels are also affected by statutory rules on rounding. Therefore it is not possible to give accurate estimates for the effect of a 0.05 per cent. reduction in the rate of inflation. It might not have any effect at all.

Tax Credits

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints, broken down by category, he has received following the introduction of new tax credit arrangements.

Ruth Kelly: This information is not available.

Tax Credits

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of child tax credit awards that will be reduced following the finalisation of 2003–04 awards.

Ruth Kelly: Chapter 4 of "The Child and Working Tax Credits. Modernisation of Britain's Tax and Benefit System. Number 10", April 2002, provided estimates of the number of families whose Child and Working tax credit awards may need to be reassessed due to rises in income. This is available at www.hm-treasurv.qov.uk/Documents/Taxation Work and Welfare. No reliable estimates are available of the number of awards which will be reduced at finalisation.

Tax Credits

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of families currently receiving a manual top-up payment in respect of a child tax credit award which has been reduced because of overpayment; who will see those payments (a) terminated and (b) reduced following the finalisation of their 2003–04 awards; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: Since the start of the new tax year, families expected to have continuing entitlement to tax credits are receiving provisional payments based on the latest information held about their circumstances and income, while their claim for 2004–05 is renewed. Those payments may reflect the recovery of an overpayment from 2003–04, following the approach set out in Inland Revenue's Code of Practice 26, "What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?". Families who had been receiving additional tax credit payments in 2003–04 are receiving provisional payments in the usual way, so that there is no need for continuing additional payments to them.

Tax Credits

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of recipients of (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit have received payments above the level to which they are entitled; and what the average overpayment for each tax credit was.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Hepburn) on 22 March 2004, Official Report,
	columns 663–664W).

Tax Credits

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether tax credit helpline advisors inform claimants about (a) the recovery of overpayments and (b) the availability of top up payments when they report a change of circumstances.

Dawn Primarolo: If after having reported a change in their circumstances claimants receive a revised award notice and require further information about their award, the helpline will be happy to advise them.

UK Aid Budget

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to increase the UK aid budget to meet the UN target of 0.7 per cent. of GDP spent on overseas aid.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on 27 April 2004, Official Report, column 869W).

Unclaimed Assets

Roger Gale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his Department's latest estimate is of the total sum of money lying dormant and unclaimed in United Kingdom bank accounts.

Ruth Kelly: There is currently no official estimate of the number of unclaimed deposits in UK banks or their total value.

Unclaimed Assets

Roger Gale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made with the initiative announced by his Department to reunite unclaimed assets with their rightful owners; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Government announced in the Budget that we support the efforts of the British Bankers' Association, the Building Societies' Association and National Savings and Investments in trying to reunite unclaimed assets with their owners. As we have said in the Budget, it is right that more should be done in principle.
	The Government will assess and report on progress on unclaimed assets at the time of the PBR.